AFTER being beaten by a nose in last summer’s All-Ireland SHC race, Rob Downey knew Cork’s only option was to get back on the horse.
The thoroughbred centre-back will be at the forefront of his county’s latest bid for a first Liam MacCarthy Cup since 2005, which begins in Ennis on April 20 with a rematch against champions Clare.
Before then, Downey hopes to guide the Rebels over another hurdle that has stood in their way for far too long.
Cork’s last Allianz League triumph was achieved before he was even born. Sunday’s clash with Tipperary presents an opportunity to bridge a 27-year gap.
Downey, 25, said: “It’s something that we’d love. You want to win everything. But I suppose Cork not winning a league in my lifetime has never really entered my head, to be honest.
“It’s not something that we really think of. All our focus is just on the training leading into the Tipp game and we’ll see where we go after that.”
Current boss Pat Ryan starred at midfield when the Leesiders beat Waterford to be crowned league champions back in 1998.
And it was a reflection of Downey’s increasing importance to the present crop that Ryan entrusted him with leading Cork in their long quest for a national title.
The Glen Rovers ace, who has succeeded Seán O’Donoghue as captain, makes no bones about where their priorities lie for 2025.
But on the prospect of skippering Cork to success at a packed SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this weekend, he said: “Lifting a cup in front of your own people would be lovely.
“I think for us, and I know it’s probably a cliché, we really just try to take it day by day.
“You don’t even allow those thoughts to enter your head because the training sessions and things leading into it are the really important things.
“It’s important as well that we keep an eye on April 20 because that’s a more important game. Not that it’s more important than the league final, but Championship is really where it matters.”
Following the heartbreak of the 2024 All-Ireland final, there was a measure of consolation for Downey as he bagged his first All-Star award.
He was one of three Glen players, along with younger brother Eoin and legendary forward Patrick Horgan, who featured in the one-point extra-time loss to Clare.
Downey, who also played in the 2021 decider against Limerick, was ‘gutted and devastated’ as he came to terms with coming up short on the biggest day in the hurling calendar for the second time.
But the best way for him to process the grief was to return to where the journey began.
He explained: “For me anyway, I just went back with my club as fast as I could. I didn’t really want any hanging around or anything like that.
“I think playing with the Glen is probably the most enjoyable time I have anyway playing hurling. I’m not speaking for Eoin and Patrick but I think they’d probably say the same.
“For me, it was just about getting back up on the horse as fast as you could. You’re not going to forget about it but your mind definitely needs to focus on something else.”
Downey was credited with one of the greatest goals ever seen in an All-Ireland final when he rattled the Clare net to put his side seven points ahead in the 12th minute of last year’s decider.
After catching a Banner puck-out over the head of Peter Duggan inside his own half, he marched deep into enemy territory and beat Eibhear Quilligan with an emphatic finish on the run.
The Cork captain recalled: “It was great at the time. I think it put us 1-7 to 0-3 up. But afterwards it probably just wasn’t enough on the day.
“Not that I look back and say it’s a negative thing or anything, but I probably haven’t thought about it too much at all, being honest.
“I’ve seen the video a couple of times but I think unless you can keep doing things like that again and again, it doesn’t really matter.”
