A TOUGH All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw for Cork, but considering the teams they have beaten this year, it is certainly a winnable one.<\/p>\n
In recent years, Cork have travelled to Croke Park for quarter-finals with hope rather than<\/p>\n
expectation. This Rebels team now expects to win as they face Mayo this Saturday (4pm), live on GAA+.<\/p>\n
The last meeting between the sides, in 2023, produced one of the highlights of John Cleary\u2019s tenure as Cork manager, a 1-14 to 1-11 victory in an All-Ireland group-stage clash at the Gaelic Grounds.<\/p>\n
Three years ago was also the last time Cork reached the quarter-finals, when they were knocked out by Derry. This time, the Rebels are determined to reach the last four for the first time since 2012.<\/p>\n
While it is brilliant to see Cork competing at the business end of the championship, the exits of Donegal and Armagh have only heightened the sense that there is a real opportunity to make this season even more memorable.<\/p>\n
Of the eight quarter-finalists, Cork boast the best competitive win rate this year, winning ten of their 13 games (77 percent). Mayo rank third on that list with a 67 percent success rate, achieved while operating in Division 1.<\/p>\n
Andy Moran\u2019s side has improved steadily throughout the season and possesses plenty of threats. Goalkeeper Jack Livingstone has been in All-Star form, while Enda Hession combines defensive solidity with an attacking edge from the back line.<\/p>\n
Jordan Flynn and Jack Carney are capable of landing two-pointers, Ryan O\u2019Donoghue remains one of the most reliable free-takers in the game and there is huge excitement surrounding 18-year-old Kobe McDonald.<\/p>\n
McDonald is in his final season before heading to Australia to pursue an AFL career, and he will be eager to help extend Mayo\u2019s championship run.<\/p>\n
The Connacht side has averaged 3.8 two-pointers per game in this year\u2019s championship, underlining its long-range scoring ability.<\/p>\n
Cork, however, have plenty of attacking weapons of their own. Steven Sherlock has been a revelation since returning to the panel and only David Clifford has scored more than the St Finbarr\u2019s forward in this year\u2019s championship.<\/p>\n
Mark Cronin and Chris \u00d3g Jones will need big performances, while Tommy Walsh and Luke Fahy will hope to continue their impressive recent form.<\/p>\n
The return of Colm O\u2019Callaghan from suspension is another major boost for the Leesiders, with the midfielder set to reunite with Ian Maguire.<\/p>\n
The benches could prove decisive and both sides possess experienced game-changers.<\/p>\n
For Cork, there is Brian Hurley. For Mayo, there is Aidan O\u2019Shea.<\/p>\n
Both have given everything to their counties. Both are still chasing an All-Ireland senior medal. Both could have major roles to play this weekend.<\/p>\n
Cork have already shown they are capable of beating top opposition, but they will need another performance of the calibre that brought victories over Meath, Tyrone and Donegal.<\/p>\n
An All-Ireland semi-final place would be the icing on the cake for a season that has already delivered significant progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A TOUGH All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw for Cork, but considering the teams they have beaten this year, it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":520965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-520964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=520964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=520964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=520964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=520964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}