BY JJ HURLEY

THE destination of the Procure.ie South East Junior A Football title and Ross Oil Junior A Hurling crown will be decided with two mouthwatering encounters at the weekend.

First up is the football final where Ballygarvan and Carrigaline face off on Saturday in Shanbally at 4pm, in a repeat of last year’s decider.

Since winning their first junior A football title in 2002, Ballygarvan have been a familiar name on the roll of honour in the South East Junior Football Championship.

Now going for their third title in a row, it could easily have been four but for a late Barry Gray goal in Belgooly in 2022. Late scorers in important games are something that have haunted Ballygarvan of late, remembering last year’s county final.

A slow start this year saw them draw with their neighbours Ballinhassig, but to be fair they have been hampered by injuries, including Ray O’Halloran, Evan O’Connor, Kevin Lyons and their outstanding Cork senior footballer Sean Brady.

Indeed, it was Lyons’ and O’Connor’s introduction that helped them see off a determined Ballymartle challenge in the semi-final.

For last year’s beaten finalists Carrigaline, it’s another chance to win the Pa Joe Cronin Cup – a title they last claimed in 1992 – and having won the B title against Belgooly recently, they will be hoping to add this one too.

A strong performance against Valleys was not matched in their other games, as they only defeated Courcey Rovers by a single point and drew with Ballymartle, before dispatching Shamrocks in the semi-final.

For Carrigaline to stop the Ballygarvan bandwagon, big performances will be required from the Crosshaven Road. Particularly, Killian McNulty, Jack McGrath, Kieran Kavanagh and Billy Pope will need to be at the top of their game if 33 years of heartache are to end.

The hurling final promises to be an outstanding game as Belgooly take on Kinsale in Carrigaline on Sunday at 4pm. With Tracton having won the junior A county, three teams were always going to be strong contenders for the South East Junior A Championship in 2025.

Included in that list were Belgooly, Kinsale and Valley Rovers, so it’s possibly no surprise that Kinsale and Belgooly should face off. Having been drawn in the same group, all eyes were on both sides to see who would top the group.

With both sides having seen off Courcey Rovers in their respective games, it all came down to a wet and windy evening in Riverstick, where the seasiders took the spoils following a fine performance from the young side. Having lost their talisman John O’Brien, it was Michael Murphy who really impressed that evening.

Belgooly bounced back in their quarter-final display against Carrigaline, as they easily pulled away in the second half thanks to the influence of Barry Dwyer and the ever-impressive Ryan Long.

In their respective semi-finals, Kinsale dispatched Ballymartle with an impressive performance from Noah Ryan, while Belgooly overcame Valley Rovers as Eoin O’Donovan finished brilliantly for his side’s only goal.

As for the outcome of this final, it’s youth versus experience – and as a soccer pundit once said, ‘You never win anything with kids,’ do you?