FINALS weekend in Cork football last weekend saw county champions crowned at four of the five grades from Premier Senior to Premier Junior – Kilshannig and Aghabullogue will have to meet again in the Premier Intermediate final replay – while here in Carbery, Junior A and Junior B champions were crowned.
There were celebrations in Castlehaven, Carrigaline, Glanmire, Kilmurry, Leap and Goleen, but in contrast post mortems in Trabeg, Knocknagree, Boherbue, Canovee, Castletownkenneigh and Drimoleague. The highs and lows of sport felt keenly across all corners of the county.
Castlehaven gave the headline performance of the weekend with a convincing five-point victory over Nemo Rangers. The first half was a contrast to the semi-final against The Barrs as Nemo were happy to let The Haven have the lion’s share of possession while Bríain Murphy paid close attention to Brian Hurley after his exploits in that game. Murphy had more help from his team-mates also as Nemo pulled numbers back to close up the space. This approach largely nullified the counter-attacking plan that Castlehaven had deployed in the Barrs game to such devastating effect.
With Brian largely tied up, brother Micheal and Jack Cahalane did most to shoulder the scoring burden for the West Cork men, while youngster Bryan Hayes and Ronan Dalton did likewise for Nemo. Though the tempo was slow at times, with The Haven keeping possession around midfield when faced with the Nemo wall, the closeness of the contest and the quality of the points kicked did enough to keep us far more entertained than we were in the equivalent contest in 2023.
Castlehaven attempted to solve the conundrum facing them by flooding the full forward line with up to five bodies at times, attempting to stretch the Nemo defence and create space for their runners further out the field. Strangely Rory Maguire was often part of this group in front of goal when his running game would have seemed more suited to attacking from further out. In truth, The Haven struggled somewhat to break down the Nemo masses, which required fine individual scores from the younger Hurley, the youngest Cahalane and the hard-working Sean Browne to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Hayes, Dalton, Conor Horgan, Mark Cronin and Paul Kerrigan kicked fine scores at the other end to give the city side a one point lead at the break.
Brian Hurley broke free from the shackles of Murphy early in the second half to get his first point from play and The Haven got their noses in front soon after the restart. This strong start to the second half was critical as it forced Nemo to commit more bodies forward as they chased the game in the later stages. This suited The Haven as Mark Collins cleaned up in his defensive sweeper role. Mark was outstanding in the second half and had the nous to be in the right place at the right time to intercept promising Nemo attacks and launch the counters.
Honestly, if I was John Cleary, I would be straight on the phone to my fellow club man to see if he would consider attempting to reprise his new role in red and white next year. Mark had a fine career for Cork primarily as a half-forward, could he attempt a swansong now as a covering wing-back? He is fit enough and playing well enough if he had the hunger to give it another go. Take it from someone who did go back, it’s better not to die wondering, in my book!
The Haven reverted to a more familiar shape as the game progressed, inviting Nemo on to them and leaving their three star forwards to cause havoc at the other end. Conor Cahalane, on for a seemingly half-fit Damien at half-time, and the Maguire brothers then offered the running threat from deep as the spaces opened up in front of them. Cahalane (the middle one!), Conor O’Driscoll and Micheal Maguire all got on the scoresheet from the bench, while Nemo had no such impact from their substitutes. There were goal chances for The Haven late on and Micheal Aodh Martin saved well from Jack Cahalane as he sought to round off a fine hour’s work with a green flag. His and Maguire’s late points though were enough to see Castlehaven home by five in the end.
Castlehaven were deserving winners and IT’S A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT FOR SEANIE CAHALANE IN HIS FIRST YEAR IN THE JOB, BUT THEY WON’T BE HAPPY WITH THEIR LOT JUST YET. They look well set for a strong tilt at provincial and possibly All Ireland honours, while it will take serious improvements from their rivals in Cork to prevent three in a row next year. That is a consideration for further down the road now as a huge clash against Kerry champions Dr.Crokes awaits on Saturday week.
Carrigaline had earlier produced a strong second half performance to reel in Knocknagree with former Caheragh man Brian O’Driscoll very much to the fore. I made it to Páirc Ui Chaoimh for the second half of this one and was disappointed by the Knocknagree showing, as they failed to follow up what had been a strong showing in the opening moiety.
Elsewhere, Kilmurry took the local bragging rights with a single point win against Canovee in the Premier Junior final. It will be a long winter listening to the victors for the good people of Canovee GAA club! On Saturday evening, Glanmire came from behind to beat Boherbue. I caught the end of this on Rebels Online and it was worth the effort for a dramatic finish and one of the goals of the season from Glanmire’s Shane O’Driscoll. Boherbue will be very disappointed having led by six points in the first half.
I missed what was by all accounts a thrilling draw between Kilshannig and Aghabullogue in the higher intermediate grade as I made my way to Dunmanway for the West Cork Junior final. Kilmacabea were to prove too strong for Diarmuid O’Mathunas on the night, with suggestions that fatigue could be setting in for the dual finalists. To suggest that was the deciding factor would be something of a disservice to the Leap men, as their tactical set up stifled the lively Mathunas forwards and their individual quality came to the fore after a slow start. Colin O’Donovan, Donncha McCarthy and Damien Gore in particular played well for the Kilmacs.
There was a fine crowd in Dunmanway on a thankfully fine October evening, including an interested observer from France. Sylvain (I think that was his name!) was a travelling musician who was spending some time in West Cork and had seen some Gaelic Football on the tv and wanted to see the real thing. He had some queries about the rules, and I did my best to explain the vagaries of our game, and even though the contest was no classic, he was very taken by what he was seeing.
As a man who played basketball and soccer in France, he enjoyed the extra physicality of our native game as well as the skills and action on show. With all the negativity we hear about Gaelic Football and the moves being made to increase the perceived attractiveness, it was nice to hear another perspective and be reminded that there is much to admire in football still.
Final mention to Goleen for backing up their Junior B County title with a big win over Clann Na nGael. They will now compete in the Junior A ranks next season, while Kilmacabea will be hoping they won’t be in the same draw as they launch their assault on the county championship against Douglas’s second strong next weekend also. Exciting times on all sides of the Poulgorm bridge, and we will preview the challenges that await the neighbouring parishes next week.
