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.

Nemo reappeared after a bye to the semi-final stage after navigating their group with the minimum of fuss as is the norm. They didn’t set the world alight in overcoming a brave Newcestown effort, but their knowhow and nous in tight games was again to the fore. Three years ago, I recall doubting Nemo’s chances as they faced their south city rivals in the 2022 decider - instead fancying a rampaging Barrs side to overpower them. The Trabeg side produced a vintage display like they have so many times before in county finals with what surely ranks up there as one of their sweetest.

This past fortnight will have been the first time all year that the Barrs have had access to a full complement of players with a single focus. They have a settled team with a sprinkling of relative newcomers. Goalkeeper Darragh Newman is continuing to raise his levels while up front Ricky Barrett and John Wigginton Barrett are quietly developing into excellent talents. They are not short on man marking defenders, they are physically imposing around the middle and have the scoring machine that is Stephen Sherlock leading them up top. However, Ballincollig’s defensive stability and discipline in the first half of their semi-final showed their limitations when their running game was stifled.

Likewise, Nemo appear to have few flaws. They’re experienced, defensively sound, with some standout man markers. The redeployment of Briain Murphy to midfield alongside their midfield powerhouse Alan O’Donovan has given them an even more aggressive edge and the midfield battle on kickouts will go a long way to deciding this final. While Mark Cronin is their marquee forward, they will be confident in the abilities of others like Conor Horgan and Brian Hayes to chip in with a few scores apiece. Three years ago, Cronin destroyed the Barrs with a masterclass of playmaking from centre forward; Nemo probably need him to have another such display to drag them over the line.

This year’s county championship probably needs an epic final to make the 2025 season anyway memorable. The new rules have added to the entertainment value for the most part of the intercounty season but the same can’t really be said for the Premier SFC in Cork. 

From a Cork football point of view, John Cleary and his management team won’t exactly have been blown away by the quality on show with few new names emerging as potential senior players. Tipping against Nemo at any stage, let alone in a final, feels unwise. However, it just feels like the pieces are falling into place for a Barrs victory. Beating Nemo in a final would be their ultimate - they've never done it. I’m tipping them to perform and win.

SUNDAY'S curtain-raiser to the Premier Senior final is the mouthwatering SAFC final clash of Cill na Martra and Knocknagree - with a place at Cork’s top table up for grabs. The contrast of the pairings in both ties 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. While the large playing numbers of urban clubs give them a huge advantage, the distractions and competitiveness of other sports can sometimes rob them of some of their best and brightest. Chiedozie Ogbene and Ben O’Connor spring to mind.

That Knocknagree and Cill na Martra are both just 60 minutes from achieving Premier Senior status for the first time is an incredible achievement and vindication of the decade's worth of work done at underage in both clubs. The rise in the last ten years of both clubs is phenomenal. Knocknagree won the Junior county in 2018, Cill na Martra won the Intermediate A in 2019, Knocknagree went back to back in 2020 and 2021 with Intermediate A and Premier Intermediate victories before the men from the Gaeltacht joined them in Senior A by winning the Premier Intermediate in 2023.

It hasn’t been all plain sailing as Knocknagree have fallen short in two of the last three finals, which maybe puts more of the pressure on them to deliver this time. These sides served up a cracker in round one of the group stage this year as Cill na Martra saw a 12-point first half lead slip by and before rescuing a draw from three points down in injury time. More of the same would do nicely Sunday. 

Both sides have called on expertise form outside to push them on with Morgan O’Sullivan and Alan O’Regan helping the Muskerry men while Kilcummin's John Dwyer has added his considerable experience and coaching qualities to the men from the border.

There is no shortage of talent on show on the field either. The reality is the gap between the top Senior A teams and those outside the top three in Premier Senior is marginal. That both these sides will ply their trade in Division One of the Kelleher Shield next year is testament to the quality and strength in depth on both panels. Both Mike Desmond and Patrick Doyle have serious range and accuracy from the tee while Tadhg Corkery and Daniel O’Mahony are powerful units in the defence. 

For Cill na Martra, Seán Furey will hope to dominate the midfield battle as he did against Eire Óg while they will look to Dan Ó Duinnín to play-make from outside the arc as he did so well that same evening. Both sides have a good spread of scoring forwards, and you don’t have the same sense of pressure on any one forward per team as in the Premier Senior final.

For the neutrals and other small rural clubs around the county, this promises to be an outstanding occasion and a source of inspiration. My uncle John C Horan captained Knocknagree from midfield to win their first Junior County in 1984 having lost two finals in previous years. It feels like history may repeat itself with John Fintan Daly’s side to make it third time lucky.