On Saturday night, Cork escaped from Dungarven with a one point win over Waterford.
Though it's been a struggle for the team in the last couple of years, this surely this would have been the biggest shock to hit Cork football in generations. In the office, we joked that Gaelic football had now fallen behind soccer, hurling, rugby and even rowing in the hierarchy of Cork sports.
When you talk about Championship challengers, Cork are an afterthought. Their successful side of 2009 and 2010 even felt like a team that fell between two eras. We've written in the past that the 2010 Championship was the most bizarre in memory.
Cork people we talk to definitely care about the footballers, but it always appears to be negative. They are frustrated by them - fed up. This isn't always fair, sure, but it seems to the consensus. They are expected to do well. When they do, it's only what they are supposed to do. When they don't, they are letting everyone down.
It's from that existing environment that the reaction to Saturday's one point win was born. It was met with an almost self satisfied shake of the head by a lot of GAA fans. Sure what more would you expect from Cork?
Good to see a win at last for one of the weaker counties: https://t.co/zVt0iAROue #Cork #Waterford #GAA
— Aidan Curran (@aidancurran17) May 27, 2017
It's no wonder that Eoin Cadogan isn't happy with how his team are viewed.
Speaking to the Irish Independent at eir's official launch of the 2017 Senior Football All-Ireland Championship, the Cork full-back who's on his way back from long term injury has hit out at the constant criticism his team receives.
I have said this numerous times, when Cork were going well, winning National League titles, the All-Ireland in 2010, it was never good enough. 'Ah ye should have won more, ye should have won this and that.' Now it hasn't changed.
There never has been any love. It's not there from a media perspective. It was never good enough under Counihan. 'Counihan didn't do this' or whatever the case may be.
Now Cork aren't going well by stretch of the imagination. In 2016, they were relegated from Division 1, and lost to Tipperary in Munster, got a scare against Longford and went out weakly to Donegal in the qualifiers.
This year, they were beaten by Clare in Division 2, and failed to achieve promotion, before this scare of scares in Dungarven. But Cadogan is insistent they are where they want to be.
Not everything is doom and gloom. We are in a Munster semi-final, that is our objective, regardless of how we played. We didn't set the world alight. We didn't do this and we didn't do that. 'Cork football is in dire straits'? But we are in a Munster semi-final and we can control our next two weeks.
Do I think we are in a good place? Personally, I can't wait to get back training. To describe how I am feeling is hard because I missed a lot of league, there is a lot of negativity attached to us.
I know the work that is being put in, I know the work that I have put in myself personally. The next two weeks, as much as the negativity is out there, I can't wait to get back.
Cadogan is clearly hurting at the constant criticism describes it as "a difficult environment". It'll be interesting to see how they perform against Tipperary, where they will probably go into the game as underdogs for surely the first time ever. Perhaps in exceeding the now lower expectations, credit will finally come for this beleaguered group.
[Irish Independent]
