RTÉ GAA analyst Éamonn Fitzmaurice is expecting to see a gritty Cork travel to Omagh this Sunday as the Rebels aim to secure a return to Division 1 football for the first time since 2016.
Cork's record in the northern province in recent times hasn't been great but not disastrous either – three wins and a draw from their last 10 visits – but their last trip proved humiliating as Derry beat them by 20 points a few weeks ago.
That seemed like it had potentially banjaxed their promotion hopes, but their bounce-back win over Kildare coupled with Derry’s surprise loss to Louth, means that if they avoid defeat against Tyrone they will go up, while a loss can still take them there if results elsewhere fall in their favour.
Football league permutations - little decided ahead of final round
Fitzmaurice was Kerry manager the last time Cork played in Division 1 – his side sending their Munster rivals through the trapdoor with a Round 7 win – and he thinks there’ll be an air of expectation amongst the travelling party.
"Cork have been out of Division 1 for 10 years so they will be absolutely anxious to get back up there," he told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"They’ve always had a good enough record against Tyrone, the way Tyrone play I think suits Cork.
"They’ll be travelling with expectation and they’ll obviously have the bit between their teeth because the last time they were in Ulster they would have felt, I imagine within the group, that they let themselves down.
"They'll be really primed to make sure there isn’t a repeat of that.
"They’re in a great position, it’s in their own hands and that’s all they can ask for because after the defeat to Derry and the hole that put in their scoring difference, if Derry had beaten Louth at the weekend it could have been out of their hands and they could have been looking for results elsewhere.
"It’s a huge opportunity."
The fortunes of the Cork football fan have not been the kindest since their 2010 All-Ireland triumph, but Fitzmaurice believes they have shown plenty of quality in what has proven to be an ultra competitive Division 2 race.
"To be fair to them, they deserve a lot of credit.
"I know it was a home game and Kildare haven’t exactly been going great the last couple of weeks in particular, but they needed a reaction to their performance up in Derry. In fairness, they did react.
"Looking at their team, they have a really settled team now and getting back the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, he’s critical to them in terms of driving forward from the back. He mightn't have scored a two-pointer (v Kildare) but he’s a good two-point option.
"Having Ian Maguire back in the middle of the field was a huge one as well, he was a big miss above in Derry when they came under pressure on their own kick-out."
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