CASTLEHAVEN have what it takes to wrestle back the Cork premier senior football title, but the clock is ticking – that’s the view of former Cork minor football manager Micheál O’Sullivan.
The Rosscarbery man believes Castlehaven are among the leading contenders alongside St Finbarr’s and Nemo Rangers. But he feels the Division 1 league champions could struggle to regain the Cork premier senior football title.
Seanie Cahalane’s side are in Group 3 with an opening round tie against Ballincollig this Sunday (7.15pm) in Clonakilty.
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‘They are in the top three with the Barrs and Nemo. But there is a worry from the outside looking in,’ O’Sullivan explained on this week’s Star Sport Podcast.
‘Damien Cahalane, Brian Hurley and Mark Collins are three main players getting on in years. They have talent coming and a lot of young lads but are they of the calibre of those three men who have led them for the last 15 years? I’m not sure.
‘The Barrs have unfinished business after seeing what Dingle did. They’d want to win another county to have another cut at the Munster championship.’
Martin O’Brien’s Clonakilty face Knocknagree in the other Group 3 match on Saturday (7pm) in Carrigadrohid – O’Sullivan feels the Brewery Town are up against this year’s dark horses.
‘I would put Newcestown, Clon and possibly Knocknagree in the next tier behind the top three,’ he said.
‘Clon have a very talented team. They will be disappointed if they don’t achieve more, with the players that they have.
‘One thing has caught them in the last few years – they have a talented group, but beyond 17, 18 and 19, their squad seems to be thin on the ground. They’re not trusting guys to come on and make a contribution. Maybe, with younger players, they will be able to expand their squad and go another step this year.
‘Knocknagree will upset one of those big teams in that group. I’d fancy them to come out of the group. They have huge power around the middle. They kick the ball. The new rules suit them. They have scoring forwards. They’re a generational group from a small parish that have been together for quite a while, winning a lot.’
