Muskerry's near escape reaffirms need for Cork championship change

April has been floated as a more workable start for divisional involvement.

Tue, 10 Jun, 2025 - 07:15

Eoghan Cormican

After two false starts on the football side, and a brief, 11th hour panic in the hurling corner of the house, the 2025 Cork county championship will throw in this Tuesday evening.

In the round-robin section of the Cork PSHC colleges/divisions bracket, Avondhu and Carbery meet at Ballinlough (7.30pm), while Duhallow and Muskerry clash at Coachford (7.30pm).

The latter clash, as of Monday midday, was in jeopardy of following the same walkover path as the two opening round colleges/divisions football games that never were last week.

Similar to Beara and Avondhu withdrawing from the Cork football championship because of insufficient playing personnel, Muskerry were in danger of having to forfeit their hurling championship opener against Duhallow when the division was informed that players from one of its largest feeder clubs would not be available for Tuesday’s game.

The word from the mid-Cork division on Monday evening was that a number of other clubs rallied in support by furnishing additional players to ensure a team would be fielded and a walkover avoided.

A week after Beara also found itself in direct conflict with feeder clubs refusing to make players available, this latest episode, even if the match will go ahead, highlights how the June scheduling of the colleges/divisions section is not conducive to divisions putting their strongest foot forward.

April has been floated as a more workable start for divisional involvement given its remove from the Leaving Cert and the start of the county championship proper. What has been reaffirmed by Muskerry's near escape is the requirement for change.

The respective winners of this evening’s two games will face the loser from the other tie in Round 2. At the end of the three rounds, the top-ranked side will advance to play reigning county champions Imokilly in one semi-final and the second-placed team meeting UCC in the other semi-final.