DISAPPOINTMENT for Cork footballers as they closed out what has mostly been a positive league campaign.

Promotion assured means the key objective is achieved but the failure to secure silverware in Croke Park on Sunday will hurt, even more so for the players who have been involved for so long without tangible success.

Before we look ahead to championship 2026, we must look back at the Division 2 final and the league overall.

Cork played eight games in the campaign, winning six and losing twice. The second defeat last Sunday was nothing like the capitulation against Derry, but was without question a missed opportunity.

On balance, Meath were marginally the better side on the day, but Cork could still have claimed the win if Meath hadn’t completely obliterated Cork on their own kick-out in the middle of the second half. In truth, Meath had the edge in that sector for most of the contest, however the quality of Steven Sherlock and Chris Óg Jones on more limited possession propelled Cork into a four-point lead early in the second half.

Jones’ goal just after half time, having missed two gilt-edged chances in the first, gave Cork a platform for success that they just could not take advantage of. Jack O’Connor scored an outstanding solo goal in response and Meath then went hard after Patrick Doyle’s restarts.

Doyle was jittery from the outset and his go-to chip to the number four position put Cork in trouble at least four times. He also clipped one to Luke Fahy during Meath’s spell of dominance around the middle which didn’t go outside the arc and Meath made hay on the scoreboard while also keeping Cork penned in at the same time.

Doyle, who did make an excellent reaction save to prevent another Meath goal in the second half, has largely been preferred to Micheál Aodh Martin for the greater variety in his kick-outs. He was forced to go short on occasion because Jack Flynn and Brian Menton were dominating the skies around the middle.

Cork’s own kick-out press is another point of interest. They tend to push four players very high to cut out the opposition short kick-out options

We have praised Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan here often, and they are a fine midfield pairing, but they were second best in this contest in the air. O’Callaghan got forward for two fine points and Maguire handled his share of possession, but Cork could not get their hands on the ball in a spell where Meath went from three behind to five ahead in less than 15 minutes.

We have suggested previously also that Cork’s lack of squad depth is a concern and that consistently springing the same substitutes over and over had done little to develop Cork’s options, and the chickens came home to roost in this game. Take out Brian Hurley’s goal, where Ruairi Deane was integral in the build-up, Cork got very little impact from their substitute bench. In contrast, James Conlan was electric after his introduction for the Royals, snaring four points from play and having another chalked off because his manager decided to go back for a two-point free that was missed.

As well as Hurley, and not including temporary sub Kevin O’Donovan, Cork brought Deane, Sean Walsh and Ruairi Maguire into the fray to attempt to turn the tide at midfield. The impact was limited. Deane made a break for Hurley’s goal, Maguire won a couple of breaks but Walsh couldn’t break the Meath midfield grip.

At a time when Cork needed scores to reel Meath in, leaving the likes of David Buckley and Conor Corbett kicking their heels in the stands is very questionable. Cathail O’Mahony is on the injured list again but his only substantial minutes this year were against the wind in Derry with the game already all but lost.

The use of the squad, or lack thereof, is the main gripe after what has been a broadly excellent season for Cork to this point. Cork management have passed up the opportunity to learn more about their wider panel by giving very little opportunity to those outside the starting 15 and a handful of players that we know well at this stage.

While we are not privy to what goes on at training, from the outside looking in, it looks a mistake not to give more minutes to more players. Management will have work to do to convince those players that they have a realistic chance to get on the field during the championship when they weren’t trusted last Sunday or through the league.

Also, the loss to Meath similarly exposed Cork’s reliance on Maguire and O’Callaghan to secure possession, and given the importance of having ball-winners around the middle, Cork may have to consider their options further in the half-forward line. Paul Walsh and Sean McDonnell are not small men and each have contributed well in the campaign, however Cork will need other players to start fetching more kick-outs at both ends.

This is where the continued omission of David Buckley is so puzzling as he is very strong in the air and in the tackle, while offering a far better long range kicking option than any of the players being brought on ahead of him. Corbett and O’Mahony are players who can conjure special moments also and would give added goal threat from the bench. We will watch with interest who gets the call from the sideline on Sunday week against Limerick.

Cork’s own kick-out press is another point of interest. They tend to push four players very high to cut out the opposition short kick-out options, and it has been very effective at times throughout the league and on Sunday last. Meath’s Sean Brennan was forced to kick a couple out over the sideline as well, but generally found his targets a little more often than Doyle.

As evidenced by Meath and Donegal in the league finals, a strong kick-out press and a line of big men in the landing zone can starve a team of possession very quickly. Cork are not as strong as the likes of Meath and Donegal on the longer kick-outs. Good teams with a decent kick-out and big targets around the middle could bypass the press very quickly if Cork are not careful.

Speaking to a colleague at work this past week, I suggested the only way to stop the likes of David Clifford and Sean O’Shea is to deprive them of possession, which is how it transpired in the Division 1 final. The kick-out battle is deciding games now and this is doubly so if the wind is significant. Goalkeepers with long kick-outs and big ball-winners now have added value, and Patrick Doyle’s recent struggles mean the goalkeeper debate isn’t going away in Cork any time soon. Kieran McGeeney has been a vocal critic of the new rules around the kick-out, and it does resemble a bear pit at times.

Could we consider limiting the numbers between the 45s for the restart to allow for more one-v-one contests and a better chance of old-school high fielding? Jim McGuinness suggested at the weekend that it is getting quite dangerous under the breaking ball with the plethora of bodies waiting to scrap for the precious leather.

The prevalence of the handpass and prolonged periods of teams keeping possession – like Down at the end of their Division 3 final against Wexford – are the other new bugbears for the watching Gaelic Football public, but those discussions are for another day because the rules won’t change for 2026 at the very least.

Cork have closed the gap on the best teams in the country this year, but there is work to do to be classed as contenders with the elite.

The Munster championship now presents the best possibility of silverware for the group this season, even if history is against us in Killarney. Limerick in Páirc Uí Chaoimh are first up though, and we will look ahead to that game next week.

It’s been a good season so far for Cork, just about falling short of great. We need to build on promotion with a strong championship and ideally some silverware. Bring on the championship.