Larry Tompkins: Cork’s underage results more of a worry than defeat to Louth

FORMER Cork footballer and manager Larry Tompkins believes the underage results this season are a bigger worry than the Rebels defeat to Louth in the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final on Sunday.

The Leesiders were beaten by a point, 1-9 to 1-8, in Inniskeen which was a major setback having made steady progress over the past couple of seasons.

But Cork’s disappointing campaigns at U20 and minor level was more of a concern for Tompkins when speaking to The Echo on Monday afternoon. The Rebels lost twice to Kerry in the Munster U20 football championship while the minors were beaten by the Kingdom by 15 points in the provincial final and then 17 points against Mayo in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

“It was a setback on Sunday losing to Louth, make no mistake about it,” he said. 

“John [Cleary] has done a great job since he went in there. The team were rock bottom when he took over two years ago. He has made massive progress with the group. 

“It was fine margins between making a quarter-final place and not. They had plenty of chances to win the game and didn’t take them.

NEW PLAYERS

“It’s all about building the squad now and seeing if the management can find a few new players for next year but what is more of a worry for Cork football is their underage teams weren’t competitive at U20 and minor levels this season. The campaigns petered out quite easily in the end. The minor season was a complete hammering.

“Those results and performances would be more of a concern for me as regards the progression and moving forward in the right direction for Cork football.” 

The Rebels have struggled in recent seasons at U20 and minor levels in football but this campaign was a real disappointment.

“You take a lot of counties at U20 and minor levels, Kerry, Derry, Mayo and Tyrone are all strong to name just a few,” Tompkins says.

“You need your underage teams to come through, not necessarily winning All-Irelands, but to be competitive and that would be a worry going forward for Cork.“

*Read Barry O’Mahony’s lengthy interview with Larry Tompkins on the EchoLive website on Wednesday afternoon.