Two of the Big Three battle for the biggest prize in Cork club football this Sunday
IT’S finals weekend in Cork football circles, even if the weather and forced cancellations of a pair of hurling finals last weekend means that the protagonists in both intermediate football finals will have to wait another week.
That leaves us with three county finals this weekend, as well as the Bandon Co-op Carbery Junior A final. We’ll start from the top, the premier senior final between Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr’s.
While Newcestown came oh-so-close to breaking up the trifecta, once again we have two members of the now well-established Big Three involved on the big day with Castlehaven the odd men out – the city giants reign supreme for 2025.
From speaking with people, there is understandable fatigue in watching the same teams compete on the biggest day so often, but it could be worse. For example, Kilcoo in Down have just won their 13th title in 14 seasons. Also, look at Ballygunner in Waterford in the hurling.
Dominant teams are nothing new. Think of Nemo, Crossmaglen, Ballymaccarbery, Contrary to some opinions, I wouldn’t change a thing about the Cork championships as they are. I have heard more calls to scrap the seedings entirely, but I would disagree for several reasons. The seedings are not handed out, but earned on merit, ensure that groups are broadly evenly matched and that each team has a relatively equal chance of progressing to the knockout stages where anything can happen. Also, can you imagine being the fourth team in with the big three – a place in the relegation final would be all but guaranteed.
The tennis majors wouldn’t have considered putting Federer, Nadal and Djokovic on the same side of the draw just so someone else can have a crack. To be the best, you have to beat the best – that is the essence of competitive sport. Newcestown have shown this year that the gap to the fabled trio is far from unassailable.
St Finbarr’s entered the 2022 final as favourites in the eyes of most observers, including yours truly, even if the record of Nemo in finals – and in particular against the Barrs – gave us cause to think twice. Nemo were quite happy in the long grass and produced a controlled, calculated performance to win by four points, despite a late comeback from the Barrs. It is a similar story this weekend, although the bookies have learned their lesson and the Togher outfit are only marginal favourites on this occasion.
Nemo will be more than happy to latch onto the tag of outsiders once again, They will use the perceived lack of respect for this team’s achievements and for Nemo’s history overall as fuel for the fire. The core of Nemo’s team is largely unchanged since that success, with 11 survivors from their 2022 starting 15 starting in the semi-final against Newcestown. They have lost a pair of big hitters up front in Luke Connolly and Barry O’Driscoll, with the industrious Jack Horgan the other who didn’t feature, while Ronan Dalton featured from the bench.
Luke Horgan was called from the bench in both those contests, as was a rather more familiar name – the most medalled man in Cork SFC history, Paul Kerrigan. He will likely play the same role that he did in both those games, coming off the bench to provide a calming influence when it’s needed most in the latter stages. Mark Cronin has stepped into Connolly’s boots as scorer-in-chief, while Conor Horgan is also good for a couple of scores, including Nemo’s goal in 2022.
Micheál Aodh Martin in goal, and Kieran Histon, Stephen Cronin and Kevin Fulignati in defence provide ample big-game-winning experience. The same can be said for their operators in the air and on the ground around the middle of the pitch, like Alan O’Donovan, his brother Kevin, as well as Barry Cripps and Briain Murphy. The youthful exuberance is provided by Mark Hill, Colin Molloy and Brian Hayes, while Ross Corkery has missed the recent action with injury. It may not be regarded as a vintage Nemo outfit, but there are dozens of county medals in that dressing room. The occasion or the opponents hold no fear for men in black and green.
There is rather more flux in the blue corner as only eight men started both the 2022 final and the recent semi-final win over Ballincollig. Eoghan McGreevy, Cillian Myers-Murray and Enda Dennehy also started the 2022 defeat and were introduced in the second half of the recent semi-final, while Dylan Quinn and Conor Dennehy have been promoted from substitutes to starters in the three years between those two games.
While the eight who started both games are Alan O’Connor, Sam Ryan, Jamie Burns, Billy Hennessy, Ian Maguire, Ethan Twomeny, Brian Hayes and Steven Sherlock, there is no shortage of experience and quality in the Togher ranks. Darragh Newman in goal, Ciaran Doolan, the speedy Jonathan Wiggington Barret, William Buckley and Ricky Barrett are the new kids on the block this time around.
The Barrs were tactically outfoxed three years ago, but I am tentatively going to suggest that the lessons learned that day
The Barr’s form has fluctuated this season, with unconvincing wins over Clon and Ross followed by commanding victories against Carrigaline and Castlehaven. The performance against Ballincollig in the semi-final was a reversion to the more pedestrian, with scoring bursts at the start and end of the second half giving them enough daylight to withstand Ballincollig’s comeback efforts.
While Nemo have nothing but positive memories of this fixture, the opposite is true for St Finbarr’s. They will have to overcome that psychological block as much as anything else come Sunday afternoon. That said, they do have a few county medals, both football and hurling, in their ranks also, and won’t be overawed by the occasion. They are a slightly better team on paper, and this is the chance to do something their club desperately wants to do.
The Barrs were tactically outfoxed three years ago, but I am tentatively going to suggest that the lessons learned that day and the hurt from that loss can inspire them to reverse the result. Histon v Sherlock, Maguire v O’Donovan and Cronin v Ryan or O’Connor are the key match-ups to watch out for.
While the oddsmakers are as uncertain as I am about the premier senior final, they are more convinced that Knocknagree are the clear favourites for the senior A curtain raiser that precedes it. They might justifiably be favourites, after narrowly missing out last year and backing that up by winning Division 2 of the league, but Cill na Martra have operated in Division 1 for several seasons now and finished in joint fourth alongside Douglas and Newcestown.
I hear they do have some injury concerns, but this should be a fine game with not much to choose between the two teams. I think Knocknagree can get the job done, but this game is worth getting down to the park early to enjoy. In the premier junior final on Saturday, Buttevant can back up their impressive semi-final display by beating St Nick’s.
There should be a healthy crowd in Skibbereen for the Carbery JAFC final. I’ve backed Kilmacabea from early doors to retain their championship title, even if St Mary’s are another team that have defied my predictions of their doom twice already.
Last weekend, according to Niall McCoy of RTÉ, of 17 county finals across the country in both codes, five finished level after regulation time and five more were decided by three points or less. I do hope that the four finals talked about here will follow suit and that we get drama aplenty to discuss for next week. Enjoy the football and best of luck to all involved.
