Battle for Carbery JAFC crown ramps up with quarter-finals

MATTHEW HURLEY has a look at this weekend’s Bandon Co-op JAFC quarter-finals

Ballinascarthy v St James

(JAFC quarter-final, Saturday, Clonakilty, 6pm)

The Ardfield club will hope to surprise high-flying Ballinascarthy. Having won in 2019 and 2021, St James have the upperhand when it comes to recent meetings between the two. However, Bal are in red-hot form right now having won three group games from three. The battle of two scoring forwards, Conall Cullinane and Aaron Hayes, will be especially intriguing. Expect a tight game in Clonakilty.

Randal Óg v Argideen Rangers

(JAFC quarter-final, Sunday, Ahiohill, 2pm)

Newly-promoted Randal Óg are surprising everybody this season. Amazingly, the 2021 county junior B champions are one of three sides with 100 percent win records so far in this competition. Aiming to stop the marvellous run is Argideen Rangers, who are going well in both football and hurling. This will be Randals’ toughest outing this season, but they will be well up for it.

St Mary’s v Kilmacabea

(JAFC quarter-final, Sunday, Ardfield, 6pm)

The tie of the round. These are two of the top teams left in the Carbery JAFC. While Mary’s have been in exceptional form, 2018 and 2020 champions Kilmacabea look to have their top talents back, including Cork forward Damien Gore, just at the right time. The extra week’s break might be a blessing in disguise for them. Some brilliant players to keep an eye on here; from Dylan Scannell to Damien Gore. This is going to be epic.

Carbery Rangers v Tadhg MacCárthaigh

(JAFC quarter-final, Monday, Dunmanway, 7.30pm)

Having been far from convincing in their group, losing to Barryroe in their last match, champions Tadhg MacCárthaigh will be hoping to get back up on the horse here. The O’Driscoll brothers (Brian, Colm and Kevin), as usual, will be key, but Carbery Rangers’ second string will be no pushovers. The fact that they had 15 different scorers in three games shows they aren’t reliant on any one player.