Cleary: Cork reacted after 'hurt' of Meath loss

Cork manager John Cleary admitted his side were "hurt" by their opening weekend loss to Meath and had released all their frustration in their lopsided win over Kildare in Newbridge this afternoon.

The Rebels had racked up 1-06 on the board before Jimmy Hyland finally registered Kildare's first point just before the half hour mark and the visitors led by nine at the interval.

While the home side were more competitive in the second half, any faint hopes of a comeback were completely scotched by Alex Beirne's sending off and Cork duly cranked up the pain again, Cathail O'Mahony adding a second goal in injury-time to go with Sean Powter's first half effort.

"We were hurt last week," Cleary told RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport afterwards. "And the players in the dressing room were hurt.

"That was pent up and we let it all out in the first half. They were relentless in that first half, I thought.

"We were disappointed the way it turned out last Sunday. Meath came down and turned us over and deservedly so.

"So, it was back to the drawing board. We were coming down today to the lions den in Kildare. And in fairness the lads stood up to it. We hunted in packs and took our opportunities when they came.

"We got a good lead up and managed the game well in the second half.

"Look, Kildare were probably a bit off-colour today. But having said that, if they were it was up to us to take advantage of it and we did that."

While Cork shipped flak in the aftermath of the Meath loss, Cleary insisted that the team had actually done plenty right in the game and paid a heavy price for occasional lapses at the back.

"When we look back at that game, we actually did an awful lot of things right. There were probably three big moments in the game and they went