Castlehaven manager James McCarthy was honest about his side’s display at the final whistle.

Crossmaglen Rangers will face Down opponents in the AIB Ulster Club SFC final for the second year running, after Cross and Kilcoo won their respective semi-finals today.

Cork senior football champions Castlehaven may have to cope without captain Seanie Cahalane when they take on Waterford champions Stradbally in the Munster Club SFC semi-final in Clonakilty on Sunday.

Castlehaven manager James McCarthy said they’ll be taking their Munster Club campaign very seriously as they aim for a first provincial club title since 1994.

An odd thing happened after yesterday’s county final in Cork’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh — but only odd if you’ve failed to grasp how much of a community occasion a Castlehaven championship match is to the people of the locality.

Two players have attracted plenty of attention in the run-up to Sunday’s Cork SFC final: Donncha O’Connor, Duhallow’s attacking trump card, is well known, while Castlehaven’s Brian Hurley pocketed 1-6 in the semi-final win over Carbery Rangers.

Castlehaven 2-09 Carbery Rangers 0-09

Last season’s finalists Castlehaven won their opening battle for supremacy in the Cork senior football championship in Newcestown yesterday afternoon after a fiercely contested tie against East Cork outfit Aghada.

Cork boss Conor Counihan has made six changes for next Sunday’s McGrath Cup final against Tipperary in Clonmel from the side that overturned CIT in last weekend’s semi-final.

THIRD-LEVEL institution Cork IT has signed an agreement with the Cork county board which will see Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s Cork senior hurling panel base their training sessions at the campus in Bishopstown for the 2012 season.

TEN MONTHS after hobbling off in Pearse Stadium with a snapped cruciate ligament for the second time in his career, Colm O’Neill announced his return to the inter-county senior stage in style yesterday in Páirc Uí Rinn.

CORK boss Conor Counihan has handed out four senior inter-county debuts and brought Colm O’Neill back for his first game for the side since suffering cruciate damage last March, for Sunday’s McGrath Cup quarter-final against Clare in Páirc Uí Rinn.

ATTACKER Kevin O’Sullivan is set to return to the Cork senior football squad for their 2012 seasonal opener in the McGrath Cup against Clare on Sunday.

CORK attacker Colm O’Neill is poised to make his inter-county comeback during next month’s McGrath Cup competition after being sidelined since March with a torn cruciate ligament.

CARBERY Rangers claimed the silverware in dramatic fashion in Dunmanway last night when a 1-1 injury-time blast turned the tables on their championship conquerors Castlehaven in the Cork SFL Division 1 (Kelleher Shield) final.

THE glory they experienced in the third-level arena last spring ensured 2011 would always be filled with special memories for the UCC football camp.

A HUMBLING experience on a Sunday afternoon last February helped focus Castlehaven’s minds ahead of last month’s county SFC semi-final against Carbery Rangers, according to attacker Seanie Cahalane.

FOR the first time since 2003, Castlehaven will contest a Cork SFC final, bridging that eight year gap in dazzling fashion at Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday night.

Castlehaven 2-9 St Finbarr’s 1-7

Castlehaven 3-16 St Nicholas 0-7

THEY suffered the dejecting experience of coughing up a five-point lead in injury-time to 13-man Castlehaven in the drawn clash last month but Ballincollig atoned for that in style in yesterday’s Evening Echo Cork SFC fourth round replay in Bandon.

WITH a second-string side partaking in the McGrath Cup, Cork manager Conor Counihan wheeled out his big guns for the first time this season in a senior football challenge at Mallow on Saturday.

Castlehaven 3-9 Nemo Rangers 0-9

NEMO RANGERS remain on course to win their fourth successive Cork SFC title following victory over Castlehaven in a dour quarter-final replay at Castletown-kenneigh on Saturday.

Laois Under-21 football manager Sean Dempsey has kept faith with the 15 players that beat Mayo in the recent semi-final for tomorrow night's Cadbury's All-Ireland football final against Cork (Semple Stadium, throw-in 7pm).