JUNIOR CHAMPIONS – It was third time lucky for Diarmuid Ó Mathúna on Sunday in Enniskeane when their junior hurlers landed the RCM Tarmacadam junior A hurling title in the replay against Ballinascarthy. This was Mathunas’ third final in two weeks, having lost the junior A football to Kilmacabea and drawn with Bal in the hurling. On a perfect day for hurling, despite being in November, in front of a huge crowd, the teams produced a thriller which went right down to the wire. Tenacity, hard work and will-to-win were the main characteristics of this Mathúna win, laced with some fine hurling and a superb display of point-taking by young Caolan O’Donovan. There is no rest for the Castletown men as they head into the county championship this Sunday at 2pm in Ovens when they play Muskerry champions Ballinora.
U21 HURLING – There was silverware also for Kilbree at the weekend when their U21C hurlers beat St James in the Clona Milk final, another encounter that went down to the wire, with only two points separating the sides at the finish just like the junior A final. It was a great result for Kilbree who were adding the hurling crown to the football won early in the season and also winning the minor hurling county during the week. They will now represent Carbery in both the U21 hurling and football championships in the coming weeks. After many trials and tribulations, this completed the Carbery U21 hurling championships for 2024, with Newcestown as A champions, Cill Mochomóg as B champions and Kilbree as C champions. The problem now is to find a suitable window for those championships in next season’s fixture calendar.
FIXTURES – This weekend sees the playing of the RCM Tarmacadam junior B hurling final between Kilbrittain and Ballinascarthy. The game is timed for 2.30pm on Saturday in Timoleague. Ballinascarthy will be more than anxious not to finish the year empty-handed after such a promising season but they will start this final as rank outsiders against a Kilbrittain side that has proved a cut above this grade against all opposition and would more than hold their own in junior A. If Kilbrittain win, they will automatically be promoted to junior A for 2025 but if Bal win, they cannot be promoted as they already have a team operating in junior A. The winner of this final will play Aghabullogue or Newmarket in the county the following weekend.
The last football championship to be completed will be the junior C/D football. This is the last weekend to get games finalised in the groups as the semi-finals are scheduled for the weekend of November 15th – 17th and the final is down for November 24th. Gabriel Rangers and Tadhg MacCárthaigh have already booked their places in the semi-finals.
The last junior hurling championship will be the junior C, which is a double final, home and away, between Argideen Rangers and Dohenys. The first game is fixed for this Friday night under lights in Dunmanway at 7.30pm.
SPECIAL MEETING – A number of interesting suggestions have come from the special meeting in Dunmanway recently, at which the championship structures were discussed. These suggestions are being examined by the CCC and will be brought to an open board meeting in the near future. A discussion document will be circulated to all clubs beforehand. Two of the main items to be discussed are the reduction of junior A football from sixteen to twelve over the next three years and the introduction of direct relegation instead of the play-offs in force at the moment, which are causing clubs a lot of problems.
CONVENTION – The annual Carbery convention is due to be held on Sunday, December 1st in Bandon and clubs are asked to keep that date free from club activities and to send delegates to the convention as this is a special occasion for the board. 2025 marks the centenary of the board and the launch of centenary year celebrations will be marked by a special Mass before the convention in the Bandon GAA pavilion at 2pm for all deceased members of the GAA in Carbery over the past 100 years. Mass will be followed by the unveiling of a special centenary plaque at the entrance to the pavilion as Bandon was one of the five founding clubs of the new division back in 1925. Convention will follow at approx 3pm.
ELECTION – It’s that time of the year again when officerships of the Carbery Board are up for grabs. Nomination papers have been sent to all clubs and we would ask all clubs to put serious thought into these elections. The board will have a new chairperson in 2025 as present chairperson Aidan O’Rourke is stepping down after completing his three-year term. Assistant rúnaí Martina Burns has also stepped down and that position is also open. Any motions clubs may have must be sent in with the nomination forms.
