ON July 6th this year, Goleen footballers turned a real corner when they beat Ballyphehane in the county confined junior B final. It wasn’t their first-ever county title – they had beaten Abbey Rovers in the county juniorC final in 2016–but it was their first time lifting a county B title after so many failed attempts. Little wonder they rejoiced and celebrated that win.
Even last season they had lost the county confined semi-final and then, after winning the Carbery junior B title, they lost the open county final. Those losses alone, on top of two county final losses in 2019 and another in 2021, would have shattered most teams but it only acted as an extra spur to this special Goleen team.
Under the watchful eyes of Donal McGrath and Shane O’Neill, their Bantry mentors, the team was on a mission this season. Promotion guaranteed in 2025 as county champions, the rest of this season will be bonus territory but Goleen have no notion of resting on their laurels. Next up is the retention of their SW title on Saturday October 26th when they take on Clann na nGael in Church
Cross (3.30pm).
Like the county championship, they have emerged convincing winners of their qualifying games, beating Muintir Bháire by 2-20 to 0-4 and St. James by 3-16 to 1-6 in the group. A bye in the quarter-final was followed by a 0-14 to 0-5 over Dohenys in the semi-final. A win on Satur- day will see Goleen in pursuit of their third title of the season, the county open championship.
Clann na nGael will enter this final as outsiders despite their record of having won four West Cork junior A titles down the years, a title Goleen have nev- er won. The fact that their last win was in distant 1981 has seen them alternating between junior A and junior B since then. Their biggest win came in 2006 when they captured the SW junior B title, and followed through by winning the county title, beating Churchtown in the final. If hunger is the perfect sauce, then the Scorchers will be really up for this final on Saturday.
No doubt last season’s achievement of winning the junior C/D football title was the launching pad for this season’s march to the B final. In this campaign they registered wins over Dohenys, 1-10 to 0-12, and Bantry Blues, 1-7 to 0-6, in the group before receiving a bye in the quarter-final and then beat- ing Muintir Bháire by 5-9 to 0-4 in the semi-final. They have been showing impressive form and while Goleen will enter the game as hot favourites, they might just get a little ‘scorching’ from the Drimoleague/Drinagh men before they lift the trophy.
