WHAT’S that they say in politics – there are decades where nothing happens, and weeks where decades happen. 

It can feel that way sometimes also being a GAA columnist, with weeks bare of action as opposed to the weekend just gone where one could mine pages of material.

The weekend started with disappointment from my perspective as Carbery Rangers suffered relegation after a defeat to Valley Rovers. In truth, Ross should have got the job done the first day but failed to close out the game. The result: the club now finds ourselves outside the top flight for the first time in two decades. The demotion has been coming for a few years as the results have shown, with no wins in the group phase since 2022. 

Naturally, we are disappointed, but there is acceptance that we are where we deserve to be for next year and optimism because Senior A is still an excellent championship of a high standard. It may be a benefit to some of the younger players coming through in the club to cut their teeth at this level. 

I’m not trying to put lipstick on a pig here, because the ultimate aim in sport is to compete and succeed at the highest level possible, but relegation isn’t the death knell it may have been seen as in the past. 

The goal now is to make sure we don’t drop any further and then look to get back to the top level when some of the young players have matured further. Congratulations to Valley Rovers, they were deserving winners on the day. 

At the opposite end of the championship, Newcestown and their vocal followers will be wincing with regret when they look back at a missed opportunity to inflict a rare semi-final defeat on Nemo Rangers. Quite how the Trabeg/Capwell outfit prevailed at the end of this extra-time contest (2-14 to 0-19) is anyone’s guess, such was the West Cork side's dominance after a slow start. 

Newcestown were five points in arrears, 0-7 to 0-2, after the first quarter, before they turned the game completely on its head. Led by Luke Meade and David Buckley, they burst into the contest and outscored Nemo by 13 points to one over the next 30 minutes or so. Nemo looked shellshocked until Kieran Histon, who battled well against Buckley even if the Newcestown man had the better of it after a quiet start, broke forward for an excellent goal. 

A scrambled effort from Kevin Fulignati minutes later brought Nemo to within a point and the game was there for either side to claim once more. Between the end of normal time and the end of extra-time, a Newcestown team whose legs were seizing up from the massive effort throughout, spurned several presentable chances to win without the need for extra-time or at least force another penalty shoot-out. 

We had a similar experience against the same opposition in 2015 when we lost out by a point with some very controversial refereeing involved, but now just as then, Nemo just seems to know how to win county semi-finals. The following year they did lose a semi-final to Ballincollig, but since then have won all seven semis that they have contested, only failing to reach the final in 2018 and 2021 when they made their exit at earlier stages. 

That winning nous, even when not playing particularly well, will be put to the test once more by city rivals St Finbarr’s in a repeat of the 2022 final. The same sides also contested the finals in 2010 and 1993, and Nemo are unbeaten in those contests. That poor championship record and possible psychological hang-ups against the Cork kingpins are the primary reason why the Barrs won’t enter the clash on Sunday week as clear favourites, as on paper they have the superior outfit. 

The Togher outfit were not at their best either against Ballincollig last weekend, needing a late scoring burst after being pegged back to level terms with just over ten minutes left to play. After what was a pretty dismal overall first-half showing, their big name trio of Maguire, Sherlock and Brian Hayes stood up when it mattered most. Barrs eventually won 2-13 to 1-9.

Maguire and Sherlock have been deservedly praised to the rafters for years now, and they are both immense for their club, but Hayes showed in the second half at full forward what a loss he is to John Cleary and future Cork football managers. The best players on show on Sunday were that trio and the Newcestown pair Buckley and fellow hurler Meade. Mark Cronin and Luke Fahy were others to impress for Nemo and Ballincollig. 

Newcestown's Sean O'Donovan breaks through the challenge of Nemo's Mark Cronin.

There are some rumours that Buckley won’t make a return to the inter-county set-up either next year due to a lack of previous opportunities, but if I was John Cleary now I would make it clear that he would be starting in the first games of the league next year. While I have to caution that the gap between club football and the top level of inter-county is vast, Buckley has the kind of profile that Cork needs right now. 

The Newcestown man is a big unit – strong, direct and fiercely competitive with a right foot that resembles a cannon. The second top scorer in the premier senior championship, he must be given multiple opportunities to show he can transfer his current form to the higher stage. Luke Meade was under utilised by Pat Ryan last year and with Ben O’Connor seemingly set to give younger players their shot, is it possible that he would be given the opportunity to do a Conor Cahalane and swap small ball for big in the red jersey? 

The senior A decider will be what was widely predicted from some time back, after Knocknagree and Cill na Martra did the needful against Beal Athá’n Ghaorthaidh and Éire Óg respectively. Knocknagree were very comfortable winners with a 12-point margin of victory, 2-19 to 1-10. While Cill na Martra may only have had four points to spare in the end, 1-17 to 1-13, they were always ahead in their contest also. That final will be every bit as interesting as the main event on Sunday week. 

It's a similar story at premier intermediate as fancied Uibh Laoire comfortably accounted for Aghada, despite the incredible ongoing efforts of one Pearse O’Neill, while Aghabullogue edged a closer encounter with Naomh Abán by just two points. Another intriguing final to look forward to. 

While I may have correctly called all six of those games, my record deteriorates significantly as we move down the ranks. Ilen Rovers people will be delighted that I was wrong about them once more as they snatched a dramatic comeback win (0-24 to 0-22) after extra-time in a titanic struggle with an Adrigole team that will be full of regret as another semi-final slips from their grasp. 

Rovers will now meet a Ballinora side that caused a mild surprise by beating Kilmurry, a team that drew with Ilen during the group stages. There won’t be much to choose between the sides in that contest either, and I’m sure any Rovers readers will be hoping that I back against them again in the final, given my track record in their games. They will have to wait until next week to see which way I’m leaning!

Kilmacabea's Owen Tobin under pressure from Kilbrittain's Ronan Crowley during the Bandon Co-op JAFC semi-final at Dunmanway on Friday night. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

In the Carbery Junior A semi-finals, another favoured side, Kilmacabea, just about reined in less fancied opposition to snatch a draw and claim success after extra-time. Add Kilbrittain to the teams drinking from the cup of regret after last weekend in coughing up a lead very late in this game. Caheragh will be equally agonised after doing likewise in another cracking contest against St Mary’s. Leading into injury time only to be pegged back and losing in extra-time is quite the theme for this week. 

The club championships in Cork – and around the country – are superb entertainment and provide far more variety and intrigue than the inter-county scene. The powers-that-be should be asking how they can fit the bloated inter-county season around the squeezed club calendar, not the other way around.