A weekend with a difference delivered, as the worlds of rugby and GAA collided in same Edinburgh pub

PARENTHOOD, as many of you will know all too well, changes everything and things you might have taken for granted previously become very much a luxury.

I haven’t gotten too far from the nest in recent months, however my permission slip was approved to make a break for a stag party in Edinburgh for one night at least, so I flew out Saturday evening to join the festivities that had started the day before. I landed in the Scottish capital just in time to see New Zealand run in their three late tries to beat Ireland in Chicago.

Little did we know at that stage that several of those very same All Blacks would make a cameo appearance on the stag the following day, as they unwound with a few beers in an Edinburgh watering hole after catching the first flight out of Chi-town after the game. The group were so relaxed after the previous night’s exploits that Beauden Barrett didn’t even get annoyed when I mixed him up with Jordie!

The point has been made before, but professional athletes being permitted to enjoy their down-time just days before a test match against the Scots contrasts sharply with some of the over-zealous ‘beer bans’ that GAA managers and coaches have often been so fond of. One had to feel a little sorry for the non-starters from the day before, who couldn’t indulge with the lads who had played because the subs would have to do additional running at training the following day. A double whammy to not get game time and then have to train more to make up for it!

The Barretts and Co generally had a couple of booths to themselves and were mostly left in peace. I quickly made my apologies and stopped burning Beauden’s ears after my little wrong name faux pas, with most of the patrons more concerned about the Glasgow derby that was underway just about an hour away from our location. While we kept an eye on proceedings from Hampden Park, the mobile phones were out at our tables to watch the action from the Cork intermediate football finals in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, where the entertainment trumped most of what was on offer from either Chicago or Glasgow.

All Blacks star Beauden Barrett was enjoying some down-time in Edinburgh.

The opener – the intermediate A final between Ballinora and Ilen Rovers – was a cracking appetiser. There was real drama in the final minutes as Ilen held on to a two-point lead, before the officials penalised Rovers for not having three players in their opponent’s half. Cork panellist Neil Lordan held his nerve to split the posts from just beyond the arc to level the game, Ilen’s 2-9 to Ballinora’s 0-15. The final whistle sounded moments later with the sides level, so it’s back to HQ again for both teams on November 16th.

Ilen will be very disappointed not to have seen the game out, and to let it slip in the manner they did will double their annoyance. But it has to be said Ballinora had several good goal chances which were mostly foiled by outstanding goalkeeper Damien O’Sullivan. The replay in Páirc Uí Chaoimh is an opportunity to go again. Two county finals are better than one and hopefully it will be just as exciting as this one was.

The premier intermediate game that followed did not disappoint either, with two fine sides going toe to toe for an hour and more, before Aghabullogue prevailed over Uibh Laoire (2-12 to 2-11) with a late winner from Matthew Bradley. The men from the parish near Coachford are riding the crest of a wave with their success in both hurling and football in recent seasons, while manager Ray Keane highlighted also that several of their stars are keen soccer players also, keeping all three going at the same time.

Again, this is another example of a manager bucking a trend because I know from personal experience that not every manager is happy to allow other sports to potentially distract from a single focus. The risk of injury is also another concern in this respect, but the reality is our playing days are short enough, so amateur club players are entitled to play whatever sports they want to play while they still can. For years, GAA players have been over-trained for not enough games. The balance has improved with the revised calendar, even if the dual clubs now feel there are too many games for them. A better complaint to have in my book than how it used to be.

One dual club with legitimate cause for complaint is Bandon, who now have their intermediate A hurling final deferred yet again. The main issue here is the lack of flexibility from the Munster Council with their provincial dates. The logical thing here is to allow the county final to proceed and move Aghabullogue’s clash with Thurles Sarsfields back one week, but there is never any movement with the provincial dates.

Given that there is a maximum of three rounds at Munster club level, and the All-Ireland club finals don’t go ahead until January 2026, there is scope here for a little movement if the will was there with the council. It currently doesn’t appear to have any such will. I’m blue in the face from saying it at this stage, but pushing the club finals to February would give some breathing room to the county championships. You can still aim to get all provincial championships run off prior to Christmas with the caveat that there is room to play them early in the following year if weather or other unavoidable delays occur.

Kilmacabea’s progress continues in the junior A championship having done the needful against Carrig na Bhfear. The Leap lads are into the final four and will now face the winners of Charleville against Ballygarvan which is this weekend, with Donoughmore and Nemo Rangers third string side in the other semi-final. Donoughmore scored two late goals to snatch a dramatic come from behind win over Aghinagh in the Muskerry Junior final and given that they very nearly did the exact same thing to us in the County Junior League final, they are clearly a team that will fight to the bitter end.

Plenty still to look forward to in Cork GAA circles as we move into the winter months. One of the other gripes I hear too often is that somehow all our games should be played in the summer months when the weather is better. There are many reasons the club finals are at this time of year, with a reasonable degree of fixture certainty for clubs, Bandon’s current predicament aside, foremost amongst them.

And when you think about it, even if the calendar could somehow accommodate all our competitions in the moderately better weather between April and say October, as we can see from the games at the weekend, there is nothing wrong with football at this time of year once you are playing on a decent pitch. I would hate to have to endure the winter months without these games to watch and discuss. Long live winter football. It brightens these dreary months no end, just as the footballers of all four clubs did for everyone watching at home and abroad last Sunday. Thankfully, the action is far from done yet.