St Catherine’s put Munster title on the line as they try to rebound from last seasons county final loss;

Preview by Denis Hurley (The Echo)

When the Cork county championships were reconstituted for 2020, there were 12 clubs in the fifth tier, which was then known as the Co-op SuperStores Lower IHC.

Castlemartyr became the inaugural winners and then went on to claim the intermediate A title at the first attempt; however, none of the other 11 sides involved has had an upward move out of the grade.

Aside from the east Cork club, the other three champions at this level – renamed the Premier JHC in 2022 – were Lisgoold, Ballygiblin and Erin’s Own, all of whom had won the JAHC the year before.

It means that none of the first three beaten finalists – Russell Rovers in 2020, Kilbrittain in 2021 or Tracton in 2022 – had made it back to a decider. In fact, while Tracton did end up exiting the grade, it was downwards after relegation last year while Russell Rovers had to beat Grenagh in a play-off in 2021 to avoid that fate.

With the 2023 JAHC winners Nemo Rangers unable to maintain what had been a phenomenal run, this year’s Premier JHC champions will be one of the original 12 – and it will be one of the previous defeated finalists.

A year ago, St Catherine’s fell to Erin’s Own in the decider, the disappointment compounded by the lack of star attacker Daniel Mangan to injury. However, with the Caherlag side unable to compete in Munster, Catherine’s regrouped and bounced back to claim provincial honours before making it to the All-Ireland final.

They lost there to Kilkenny’s Tullogher-Rosbercon and, unfortunately, their next championship outing was also a defeat – the group-stage opener against Glen Rovers. It left little margin for error but the response has been strong, with wins over St Finbarr’s and Argideen Rangers sending Denis Walsh’s side into the knockout stages.

In the quarter-final, Rory Galvin scored 1-4 in the win over Milford while goalkeeper Eoin Davis landed five points, including the injury-time equaliser and winner. That set up a semi-final tie with Ballygarvan, where 12 points from Galvin were central to an 0-18 to 1-14 victory.

Catherine’s did reach the Lower IHC semi-finals in 2020 but they lost to Russell Rovers – that was the only year before this one where the two Imokilly clubs reached the knockouts.

The Ballycotton/Churchtown/Garryvoe/Shanagarry outfit impressed in the group stages, racking up an aggregate scoring difference of 30 in beating Milford, Douglas and Meelin.

After that, they had a six-week lay-off before facing Nemo Rangers in the semi-finals but they came through that on a 1-19 to 1-12 scoreline in Carrigtwohill, with Josh Beausang accounting for 1-11 of their total while Brian Hartnett and Kevin Moynihan also weighed in on the scoresheet.

Rovers will go in as slight favourites in this East Cork derby but Catherine’s will hope that they can draw upon the experience of playing in three finals inside the past year.

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Erins Own & Lisgoold to battle for Co Op Superstores Intermediate ‘A’ Hurling Championship;

Co Op Superstores Intermediate ‘A’ Hurling Final preview by Denis Hurley (The Echo)

Last year, Erin’s Own followed a path that had been laid out for them over the previous two years; this time around, they are ploughing a new furrow.

Lisgoold won the delayed 2020 Co-op SuperStores Cork JAHC title in August 2021 and  they followed it three months later with what was then known as the Lower IHC title.

That same autumn saw Ballygiblin claim the junior honours and they too straight through what had been renamed as the Premier JHC (a shift which allowed the north Cork outfit to represent the county in Munster and the All-Ireland two years running, losing the national final of 2022-23 before going a step further the following season).

Following Ballygiblin as the junior champions were Erin’s Own’s second team, beating Kilshannig after a replay – surely lightning couldn’t strike twice a third time? Well, it did as they beat St Catherine’s in the 2023 Premier JHC decider and their run has not yet ended.

In 2022, Lisgoold’s quest for a third straight championship win ended with a semi-final defeat to Cloughduv, after extra time, while last year Ballygiblin fell to Blackrock at the quarter-final stage.

Erin’s Own have kept going, though. Wins over Kildorrery and then the Rockies in the group stage meant that they had first place secured with a game to spare and, while defeat to Bandon in the final match was disappointing as it denied them an automatic semi-final spot, it was not fatal.

Mayfield were their quarter-final opponents at Ballymaw. While Daniel O’Gorman had an early goal for the northsiders, points from Cathal Lenihan were allied to a Tiernan O’Connell goal as Erin’s Own led by 1-10 to 1-6 at half-time.

The lead was reduced in the early stages after half-time but Alan Bowen’s points kept Erin’s Own ticking over and Lenihan’s goal gave the outcome an air of inevitability. Bowen finished with 12 points to his name as it finished 2-24 to 1-14.

That set up a semi-final against Midleton, last year’s beaten finalists, in Cobh and goals were the difference as the Caherlag side won again. Kieran Murphy’s early green flag settled them while Cathal Lenihan also netted in the opening period, the end of which they led by 2-7 to 0-4, with Bowen again finding his range with points.

While Midleton came back well after half-time, the third Erin’s Own goal, scored by Stephen Horgan, put the outcome beyond doubt, 3-11 to 0-14 the final score.

It leaves them on the verge of history but, while the aforementioned Lisgoold couldn’t make it three in a row in 2022, they have established themselves as one of the top sides in the IAHC.

Their group-stage performance this year saw them beat Mayfield, Cloughduv and Youghal by a combined tally of 42 points – the next-best scoring difference was Midleton, with +10. Top seeding meant a quarter-final bye for Mossie O’Connell’s side, with Ballygiblin emerging to meet them in the last four.

The longer lay-off has often tripped up teams who have taken the direct route but, while they didn’t have things all their own way in Ballynoe, they still came out on the right side of a 0-20 to 0-14 result.

A good first half from Ballygiblin had seen them establish an 0-11 to 0-7 lead but two red cards in quick succession early in the second half made their task harder.

While Darragh Flynn’s points kept Ballygiblin in front for a while, Lisgoold eventually made the most of their extra manpower and ten unanswered points – with Mark Hegarty, John Cashman and Liam O’Shea among the scores – saw them through to the final. (End)

The referee is Niall Fahy (Brian Dillons) and the game has a 5pm throw in on Saturday 2nd November at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Advanced ticket sales from gaacork.ie/tickets and from SuperValu & Centra Stores. U16’s FREE

Cork GAA Statement on Kilbarry;

Cork GAA have noted an application by way of Judicial Review, seeking to quash An Bord Pleanála’s recent grant of planning permission on our lands at Kilbarry.
Having previously submitted a comprehensive planning application addressing all of the issues now raised, we remain confident in the decision reached by An Bord Pleanála and look forward to engaging further in any necessary process.

Cork gain five All Star awards on PwC GAA/GPA All Star Hurling Team

 

The PwC GAA/GPA All Star Hurling awards 2024, were announced at the RDS in Dublin on Friday 1st November, 140 years to the day in which seven men gathered in a billiard room in Hayes Hotel in Thurles to set the seeds from which the GAA was formed.

Cork had ten nominations for this years awards, and picked up five in total as follows;

Eoin Downey (Glen Rovers), Robert Downey (Glen Rovers), Darragh Fitzgibbon (Charleville), Shane Barrett (Blarney) and Seamus Harnedy (St Ita’s).

The Downey brothers follow in the footsteps of Ben & Jerry O’Connor in 2005. Darragh Fitzgibbon collected his second award having previously been selected in 2018, while Seamus Harnedy made it a hattrick of awards having previously been selected in 2013 & 2018.

Those to miss out were Patrick Collins (Ballinhassig), Ciarán Joyce (Castlemartyr), Tim O’Mahony (Newtownshandrum), Patrick Horgan (Glen Rovers) and Brian Hayes (St Finbarrs).

 

Cork Senior Hurling Team Captain Announcement;

Cork GAA are pleased to confirm the appointment of Robert Downey (Glen Rovers) as captain of the Cork Senior Hurlers for the coming season.
Shane Barrett (Blarney) has been appointed as vice-captain.