THE second round of three in the Cork football championships have become known as ‘moving weekend’, akin to the Saturdays at major golf championships. Nothing can be won this early in the competitions, but knockout football has been assured for many while others are left to fret over the prospect of relegation contests.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the premier senior grade, where five of the six teams who will join Duhallow in the business end of the championship have been decided.
The final place will be between Douglas and Ballincollig, who meet in their final Group 3 game. After a surprise and somewhat fortunate draw against a rejuvenated St Michael’s, Ballincollig will need to claim victory against the city outfit, or it will be Douglas taking the seventh and final spot.
Victories for Newcestown and Castlehaven in Group 1, against Mallow and Valley Rovers respectively, mean the Carbery duo will go head-to-head for top spot, where the Union Hall men will have one eye on progression straight to a semi-final given their positive scoring difference of +17. Mallow and Valleys will meet in the first of what are de facto relegation semi-finals, with both sides knowing defeat will guarantee a place in the relegation play-off.
A draw will suffice for Mallow to retain their top-flight status, whereas Valleys, with a negative scoring difference of -19, would be in trouble. It is possible they could avoid that fate if there were heavy defeats for St Michael’s (currently on one point) and one of Clonakilty or Carbery Rangers. Clon need to beat Ross to be sure of avoiding the trap-door game, whereas a draw will suffice for Ross given the latter has a better scoring difference. Recent history between the clubs suggests it’s a distinct possibility. Both clubs will be out to ensure that it won’t be such a close call.
Clon are in this predicament after a failure to perform and a deserved defeat to Carrigaline, while Ross failed to convert a plethora of chances against an under-par St Finbarr’s. Unfortunately, it is becoming a recurring theme for my clubmen, who have lost the habit of winning games in the championship group stages. Sunday, September 14th will be a nervous one for football supporters in this pocket of West Cork.
Clonakilty's Chris Kenneally is tackled by Carrigaline's Jack McCarthy during the McCarthy Insurance PSFC tie at Bandon. (Photo: Paddy Feen)
In the same Group 2, their conquerors from last weekend will face off for top spot and a potentially easier draw, with neither likely to go straight to the semi-final given Castlehaven and Nemo’s positions. The Barrs will have to substantially improve in most facets of their game if they want to challenge for another county title, with their lack of work-rate especially noticeable as they allowed Ross to carve out chance after chance. Not every team will be so forgiving, and watching Castlehaven manager Seanie Cahalane will have lost no sleep on Sunday night.
While the lack of other direct qualification contests as with Douglas and Ballincollig is disappointing, every team still has something to play for. There are no dead rubbers here, and again it illustrates why groups of four with two to qualify and relegation jeopardy included is so hard to beat as a format.
By the way, my next favourite is straight knock-out, but with the caveat that you need to have a serious league competition also to ensure a sufficient number of quality games. To my knowledge, that is how Tyrone operates. In my opinion, all the different iterations of back-door championships are mere fudges and should be ditched. The group format and straight knock-out are equitable at least.
The bad news continues for Carbery teams in the senior A championship as Skibb and Dohenys will meet knowing that defeat for either will again see them fall into a relegation play-off. With one point on the board, a draw will do for Skibb but they will need to win and hope Bishopstown do them a favour against Beal Atha’n Ghaoriadh to advance to a quarter-final. Very hard work by Brian Cuthbert, Ian Jones and others seems to be paying off for Bishopstown as they are the only team with a 100 percent record in the grade.
Bishopstown’s 18-year-old substitute, Gary Holland, scored six points from the bench as the city club came from behind to beat Skibb, and he may be one that new Cork U20 boss Ray Keane will want to call on. For Cork senior manager John Cleary, David Buckley continues to impress for Newcestown with 0-23 across the opening two games, and he should be given substantial league time next year to see if he can transfer that form to inter-county football. There is talent in Cork, but whether it is talent that can bring us back to the upper echelons at both underage and senior level remains to be seen.
Continuing down the grades and the news is little better for West Cork clubs, Bantry shipped six goals to Aghada and they will need a win on the final day for the same reason as their other Carbery counterparts. Bandon were pegged back by Rockchapel which means both teams and Macroom and Kiskeam from Group 3 need results to avoid having to play an extra game to keep their place in the PIFC. Aghabullogue and Uibh Laoire look to be on a collision course for the championship outright even if there is much football to be played yet, four rounds and 11 matches to be precise.
Gabriel Rangers and Ilen Rovers are in better shape in the competitive Intermediate A championship, both sitting on three points in Groups 2 and 3 respectively. Adrigole are the only team with a 100 percent record here as the standards are so evenly matched. Similarly, a clear winner is hard to pick in the Premier JFC at this point in time, although it is good to see St Nick’s pick up some results as football on the northside of Cork city needs boosting.
Last but not least, the Carbery junior championship continued and Carbery Rangers juniors had a fine contest with promoted Goleen which ended in a draw. The westerners will be disappointed not to close another game out having had leads against us and St Marys, but they have shown they certainly belong at this level, and it is all to play for between the three teams on the final day. St Colum’s can’t qualify but won’t want to go winless for the season either. You’ve got to love those groups of four.
