COLIN McCarthy jokes that he reluctantly agreed to move back into goal for Kilmacabea – but the end result certainly justified the decision. The Kilmacs No. 1 helped his team finish number one in the county junior A football championship.

‘I wasn’t the biggest fan of it at first!’ McCarthy quips, though he understood the logic behind moving him from attack to goal.

‘The reason I went in goal is my legs are gone – my hips, ankles, they’re all going,’ he admits.

‘I’ve played a lot out the field, and the wear and tear is catching up.

‘When Donie (O’Donovan) put it to me that I’d be on the bench beside him after 40 minutes, but that he wanted me on the pitch for the whole game, it made sense. It also made me feel wanted in goal.’

Context matters here. This wasn’t just a case of shifting the 34-year-old into goal to keep his influence on the pitch. McCarthy actually began his junior days as a shot-stopper.

It’s a role he knows well. He played in goal at underage; when he was 13 he was between the posts for the U16s, at 15 he was in goal for the minors.

Kilmacabea's Colin McCarthy in action out the field against Uibh Laoire in the 2021 Cork JAFC semi-final.

‘My first year junior, maybe 2007 or ’08, I was the sub goalkeeper,’ he explains. ‘I was in goal that year when we won the West Cork U21B; we beat Ardfield in Ross. The year after that, my second year junior, I was in goal for the juniors because Timmy O’Donovan went travelling, so they put me in.’

Soon, though, McCarthy was needed further out the field, and that became his home until Donie O’Donovan had a chat with him at the start of the 2025 season.

‘I’m gone back to where I started,’ he says. ‘I knew there was a job to be done, so I didn’t mind.

‘I like to think I’m a good reader of the game, so that helps when we want to organise our defence. From being a forward long enough, I have a fair idea how forwards work, and now I’m seeing the game from another angle.’

McCarthy also quips that he likes to shout – and is always shouting at someone – so perhaps goal is the best place to get away with even more shouting. But this move worked, as Kilmacabea finished the season as Carbery and Cork junior A champions. They have reached their Promised Land. After years of trying, and with five Carbery JAFC titles in nine years (2017 to 2025), Kilmacabea finally got over the line in the county series, earning promotion to the premier junior grade for 2026. This is the one they wanted.

‘It was one of the best days of my life,’ McCarthy says, reflecting on Kilmacabea’s super Sunday in November when they beat Donoughmore 1-14 to 1-7 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in the county final.

‘The 20 seconds after the final whistle were unreal. I’d love to live them all over again. Just that feeling. It’s hard to describe the pure outburst of emotion. Fellas in tears, hugging … just unbelievable.’

For stalwarts like McCarthy, his older brother Karl, Donnacha McCarthy, Martin McCarthy, Daniel O’Donovan and the rest of that cohort, this day was a long time coming. The fear was Kilmacabea wouldn’t take that final step.

From winning their first-ever Carbery JAFC title in 2017, to losing the 2018 county final, then the 2024 county semi-final, and several disappointments in between, this group has endured its setbacks. It makes this triumph sweeter.

‘When you go back to 2015 when we made our first (Carbery JAFC) final, before that we were struggling to even make a semi-final,’ McCarthy says.

‘I remember when I was 19 or 20 and playing outfield, I was happy to win the first round, then the third round, and getting to a quarter-final was a big thing. To go from that to win it in 2017 was incredible.

‘In 2018, with the crop coming up, we felt we were good enough to go again, but we had to wait a few years to win another Carbery. And it took seven years to get back to a county final. It was stop-start.

‘When we lost the county final in 2018, and had that clipping from Uibh Laoire in 2021, you’d wonder if our chance was gone. But between last year and this past season, the fire was lit again. We felt this was our time.’

There were signs along the way that this might be Kilmacabea’s year. Just take their dramatic Carbery semi-final win over Kilbrittain – a game they were lucky to survive. Five points down with minutes left, they rallied to force extra-time and emerged 1-25 to 2-16 winners. It was a close call, and a few big calls were made on the Kilmacabea line – including Colin McCarthy being moved out the field. When his brother Karl came on as a sub early in the second half, he went in goal and delivered a message.

‘Karl said “go on, go do your thing”,’ McCarthy says.

‘The idea was for me to kick a few two-pointers, but my actual play was connecting everyone. It worked out.’

McCarthy kicked four points, including a two-point free and a 45, as Kilmacabea broke Kilbrittain’s resistance. The seeds of this move had been sown weeks earlier.

‘I was in goal for the league and I had a word with Donie, told him I’d love a run out the field – whether with the junior 2s or a challenge game – because we had a break before the championship,’ McCarthy recalls.

‘We played Newcestown in a challenge game, I was outfield, and scored a few two-pointers. I was over the moon. Donie said well done, but I’m back in goal next week!’

So after his heroics against Kilbrittain, was there any news of a permanent move into attack?

‘I was told there were conversations, but it was quietened fairly lively!’ McCarthy smiles. The end result, though, makes it all worthwhile – magical memories with his team-mates, from Páirc Uí Chaoimh to the celebrations in Leap, then on to Conna and Glandore.

Attention will soon shift to 2026 and a new adventure: Kilmacabea’s first-ever premier junior campaign. They’ve drawn Canovee, St Nick’s and Na Piarsaigh in Group 3.

‘I can’t wait to get stuck into it,’ McCarthy says. With his second coming in goal, he’s looking forward to more adventures with his home club.