Patrick Kelly: From Cork's urban princes to brilliant rural standouts

The contrast of Sunday's Cork football pairings is stark. From the highly populated urban surrounds of the south side of Cork City to the sparsely-populated rural hinterland straddling the county bounds

John Wigginton Barrett is  quietly developing into excellent talent for the Barrs. Pic: Eddie O'Hare

SUNDAY'S Cork Premier SFC final pairing is hardly surprising. City rivals Nemo Rangers and St. Finbarr's will pair off in the final to guarantee that only themselves and Castlehaven will have claimed Andy Scannell over the past nine seasons.

In truth, only Newcestown brought any sense of life to this year’s championship. Their third round upset in overturning Castlehaven made it three from three in the group stage and at least lead to an earlier than usual meeting of two of the big three. Deep in west Cork, the Barrs duly dispatched three in a row chasing Haven with a glut of goals. Goals were again crucial for the Blues in the semi-final as two of their talismen Stephen Sherlock and Brian Hayes raised green flags in the second half to overcome a stern Ballincollig test.