AFTER nearly a month of looking forward to the games and pondering so many permutations that left our heads in a spin, we finally got to the business on the pitches again. And what a weekend of football we had!

Friday evening saw the Carbery junior A and county premier junior football championship games take centre stage, and my attention was on Clonakilty for Carbery Rangers v Kilbrittain. Happily for us, after a slow start, our young outfit fashioned out a narrow two-point victory. Qualification was assured for us on that basis, while news of Kilmeen’s sizeable win against Randal Óg meant they would progress ahead of Kilbrittain on scoring difference. It’s hard to say the Rossmore side didn’t deserve it either given our late, late show against them in the first round.

In Group 1, we did tip Castlehaven to beat Newcestown, but weren’t sure they would overcome the scoring margin, but they did just enough with a four-point win. St Mary’s had a comfortable win over Argideen Rangers to top the group to join the Haven in going through. St James closed out Group 3 with a win over St Oliver Plunkett’s while Caheragh prevailed by a goal against Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas in a winner-takes-all contest. Plunkett’s must now wait for results from junior B championships before they know if they retain their status or drop down a grade. That is to be confirmed by the Carbery board in due course, I believe.

In Group 4, our pre-competition fancy, Barryroe, just held on in a cracker against Goleen to move into the quarter-finals alongside the men from the west. St Colum’s had a substantial win against Ballinascarthy to ease their own relegation worries. Ballinascarthy are the team with the second worst record overall and we again await the board’s updates about relegation, given the variables involved.

What we do know now is the eight quarter-finalists and what the pairings will be – Barryroe v Castlehaven, Carbery Rangers v Caheragh, St James v Kilmeen and St Mary’s v Goleen.

Given the lack of space and volume of action to be covered, you’ll forgive me if I don’t dwell too long on the premier junior championship, other than to acknowledge the lack of joy for the Carbery and Beara representatives, Kilmacabea and Urhan. Leap came up short against St Nick’s and Urhan’s concession of five goals to Cobh was too much to overcome.

Kinsale, despite a surprise defeat to St Vincent’s, Millstreet, Canovee and Inniscarra are all through to the knockout rounds. Kinsale take on St Nick’s in one quarter-final, Inniscarra will face Millstreet, with Canovee and Cobh already in the semi-finals. Four out of six for my predictions at this grade, then. Urhan will play Na Piarsaigh in a relegation play-off to avoid demotion back to junior A.

We did fare rather better at the lower intermediate grade, correctly predicting all six qualifiers, though Dromtariffe turned Mitchelstown over which we did not foresee. That defeat means the North Cork side will face Avondhu compatriots Buttevant, who edged out Ilen Rovers in another great tussle.

Dromtariffe now meet Duhallow rivals, Boherbue, and those two enticing contests will decide who goes forward to take on Kilmurry and Adrigole in the semi-finals. To me, this might just be Cork’s most open and unpredictable knockout stage this year. North Cork duo, Kildorrery and Glanworth will contest the relegation decider.

The picture at the premier intermediate looks clearer after news on Tuesday night that Fermoy’s objection over their winner-take-all clash with Ballinora was upheld, and they were awarded the win in their clash. The game had finished level, 0-21 to 2-15, but it turned out that the referee had made a scoring error, not counting a Fermoy point in the opening half. The club objected, and their appeal was successful, with the official score now 0-22 to 2-15. So, Fermoy join Naomh Abán, Macroom and Rockchapel in the quarter-finals.  Uibh Laoire and Kiskeam are waiting in the semi-finals.

Clonakilty's Maurice Shanley in control against Ballincollig's JP Murphy. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

Moving up to the senior grades, at senior A, there was drama aplenty. Before the season started, many observers would have had Éire Óg, Cill na Martra and Carbery Rangers as likely contenders, and all three came good last Sunday when they needed to.

Éire Óg are the form team with three wins from three, and they put down a marker against a Kilshannig team that many thought would run them close.  The Ovens outfit kicked 24 points and restricted Kilshannig to single figures for a 15-point beating, claiming a direct route to the semi-final. They will be joined there by Carbery Rangers, which represents an excellent turnaround in fortunes for my club, given how far off the mark they looked at half-time in the first round against Cill na Martra.

With lessons clearly learned and a few key personnel back, two and a half much-improved performances saw Ross claim an unexpected semi-final berth after an eight-point win over Newmarket. The concession of two late goals looked like it might be costly, however Cill na Martra did something similar against O’Donovan Rossa and Rangers’ one point superior scoring difference was enough to bypass the quarter-finals.

Cill na Martra now face a tough test against neighbours, Béal Athá’n Ghaorthaidh in that round, after their fellow Gaeltacht rivals impressed with a seven-point win over Dohenys. The reported loss of key forward Ben Seartan could be a hammer blow for the Ballingeary club. Kanturk survived a mighty scare from Aghabullogue and will meet Kilshannig in the other quarter-final.

It’s possible that Kanturk’s dual exploits may catch them out, with a premier senior hurling quarter-final in the coming weeks, also. Bishopstown were the other winners from last weekend, besting Clyda Rovers in a relegation semi-final to ensure their safety and send the Mourneabbey team into a clash with Skibb to stay in the division.

Now, to the big guns at premier senior. The six teams who joined Carbery in the knockout rounds may have ultimately been along predicted lines, but reigning champions St Finbarr’s can count themselves most fortunate to still be in the competition having lost for the second time in three games. With Carrigaline clear winners of the group having beaten the Barrs, Mallow and Douglas, a three-way tie on two points ensued behind them. The Barrs survived on scoring difference.

They will be stronger in the knockout stages if the likes of Brian Hayes and Ian Maguire can return for the clash with Carbery on Sunday week. Carbery have become more dangerous given the number of the division’s clubs who exited the championship last weekend, so this one may be far closer than it might have been in previous years. The Barrs will still be favourites, though.

In contrast to the Barrs, Valley Rovers in Group 2 were eliminated after winning two games out of three. In the same group, St Michael’s lost all three games to Valleys, Nemo and Newcestown with each of those claiming one win each against the others to produce a three-way stalemate on four points. Experienced Nemo were another to turn it on when they needed to and their 12-point win was enough to send the previous group leaders out of the competition. Newcestown accounted for St Michael’s by six to take second place and the other quarter-final spot.

Nemo’s reward for their success is a quarter-final against Castlehaven, after the Haven finished runners up to a rampant Clonakilty in Group 3. The Haven held off a late surge from Knocknagree to win by two points, but Clon destroyed Ballincollig 3-22 to 0-8 to claim top spot. Ballincollig will face St Michael’s in the relegation play-off, while Clon will now face a local derby against Newcestown in Dunmanway.

All three quarter-finals will now be played in West Cork and that is something to look forward to in this part of the world. We will look ahead to those next week, for now we need a breather. What a weekend of football that was. Bring on the knockout games.