SEANIE Cahalane is confident Castlehaven can bounce back to winning ways after their wake-up call against Newcestown last time out.

The expectation going into that final-round Group 1 game was the back-to-back champions had a chance of advancing directly to the last four as the top-performing team, but Newcestown had other ideas.

Losing 0-12 to 0-10 had repercussions for Castlehaven – they now face St Finbarr’s in a heavyweight McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC quarter-final in Clonakilty on Sunday afternoon (3pm).

‘Losing the last day out definitely focuses the mind. You can’t be complacent in any game – maybe we were, I’m not sure. But going into the Barrs game, it’s knock-out football. If you don’t perform, especially with the form the Barrs are in, you won’t get away with it,’ Haven boss Cahalane says.

Castlehaven know there is no room for error from here on – it’s knock-out championship football.

Cahalane isn’t using the fact that the champions were already guaranteed progression to the knockout stages before the Newcestown game as an excuse, but feels they can learn lessons from a rare group-stage defeat.

It was, incredibly, only their second loss in 18 group games since the format was introduced in 2020, the other coming against Nemo in 2022.

Castlehaven's Jack Cahalane in action against the Barrs in the 2024 semi-final. (Photo: George Hatchell)

‘If knowing we were already through was a factor, it wasn’t how we prepared – we felt we were well set, and had been playing well in the games beforehand. But the game turned into a bit of a stop-start contest, especially with the new rules and the momentum swings, and that didn’t suit us,’ Cahalane explains.

‘In the first half, we needed a big score going into half time, and when our shooting went a bit rash it fed into a bit of panic.’

But now there’s the battle with the Barrs to focus the minds. This is the sixth season in a row these two will collide in the knockout stages of the championship, with the five previous encounters all at the semi-final stage. It’s the biggest club rivalry in Cork club football right now, the country boys against the city slickers.

The current score stands 3-2 to Castlehaven, having won the past two ties in 2023 and ’24 on their way to county titles. And the evenness of the contests lends itself to the rivalry, as there is genuine jeopardy.

Last season’s semi-final was the most one-sided yet, Castlehaven convincing winners by 0-18 to 0-14, but signs suggest the gap has closed again this year.

The Barrs – spearheaded by an in-form Steven Sherlock – won all three group games, are second top scorers, have the second-best defensive record, and picked up the Division 1 league title already. Momentum is building, but Castlehaven know what knock-out football is all about. A new competition starts now, and in theory this is where they can call on muscle memory.

‘It’s going to be a big game, no getting around that,’ the Haven boss says.

‘We just have to focus the lads hard. We know the Barrs really well, and they know us. We’ve met plenty of times down through the years, so there won’t be much in it. It could come down to a swing of an error, a piece of skill, something small like that.

‘Against a side like the Barrs, you can’t afford mistakes. We know we have to perform. We just felt we didn’t do ourselves justice in our last performance. You have to be at your best throughout the championship – that’s a fact.’

Castlehaven had beaten Mallow and Valley Rovers before coming unstuck against Newcestown, but the feeling was they were moving well. Look at the first half against Valleys when they kicked 0-15.

So was the loss to Newcestown an off-day, or should Haven fans be worried? The feeling is the former, but the three-in-a-row chasers need to send a statement this Sunday – knocking out the Barrs would achieve that.

For Haven to win, their big players must stand up. Brian Hurley tormented the Barrs with 0-11 in last season’s semi-final. The year before Michael Hurley was the match-winner. This is an attack that also features Jack Cahalane, and can call on Micheál Maguire. Mark Collins kicked six points against Mallow. There are all game-changers, and at least one needs to bring their A-game, given the Barrs have a player custom-built for the new version of Gaelic football and its two-pointers, Steven Sherlock – he racked up 2-24 in the group stages, or over 50 percent of the Togher club’s scores.

The returning Cork forward is going to help himself to at least half a dozen points – he kicked 0-6 against Haven last season, 1-7 in 2023, 1-6 in 2022, 2-10 in ’21, and 1-9 in ’20. Sherlock will cause problems, but so too can Castlehaven’s marquee men.

When these two meet, it’s fireworks. Castlehaven need to rise to the challenge, but seeing the Barrs blues in opposition seems to bring the best out of them.