DELIRIUM in Budapest but despair in Baltimore and Bandon, as another scintillating sporting Sunday unfolded with more drama than Martin Scorsese's gangster movie back catalougue.

The best week for Irish soccer since progression to the last 16 of the Euros in 2016 might have overshadowed everything else in Irish sport on Sunday, however two more epic down-to-the-wire county finals again showed that the Cork GAA club championships in both codes are a match for any competitions for sheer consistency of excitement.

The brilliant, last-gasp 3-2 win for the Irish team in Hungary certainly lifted the mood of the nation, and while we have had bigger wins at major championships in bygone years, this was as enthralling a game as I can ever remember watching involving an Irish team. But what is very much a rarity in the millionaire world of international football happens on a weekly basis in October and November on the GAA fields across the county. I hope I’m not getting too much into ‘my sport is better than your sport’ territory, because I enjoy a multitude of sports. More than that, I want to highlight again how fortunate we are to get so much value from the games we have on our doorstep.

That, of course, will be little solace to the players of Bandon and Ilen Rovers, who both came out the wrong side of two more classic final encounters. I did keep track of the opening game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on my laptop with the World Cup qualifier on in the background. Ballinora looked the better team with all the aces in the first half as they controlled the balance of play. Better decision-making and efficiency in front of goal saw them open up an eight-point lead at half-time, 0-10 to 0-2. Rovers were again grateful to goalkeeper Damien O’Sullivan for another superb save to deny Michael Quirke what looked like a certain goal.

Rovers manager Flor O’Driscoll did not stand on ceremony as he made three changes at the break, and the moves would have the desired effect with one of the substitutes, Alan Holland, supplying the delivery for Aaron O’Sullivan’s goal immediately after the restart. The score would keep Rovers in touch into the latter stages before former Cork player Dan MacEoin buried another goal into the back of the Ballinora net. The gap was now just three entering the closing stages, and Rovers pressed for an equaliser or a previously unlikely winner.

With the gap at two, Rovers almost nabbed the goal that would have broken Ballinora hearts, but for Ballinora custodian to replicate his counter-parts heroics by denying a late goal with a great save. All was not lost for Rovers, though, and Micheál Sheehy stepped up to kick an excellent two-pointer under pressure to force extra-time. Rovers started the first half of extra-time very well to forge ahead for the first time on the day, moving clear by three.

Notably, it was Kevin Werner (son of former O’Donovan Rossa player, Jurgen) who got Ballinora’s first score in reply and he would become tormentor-in-chief as others around him began to tire. Werner had been re-introduced for extra-time after being taken off in normal time, and it would prove to be a master-stroke by my old Cork team-mate Ken O’Halloran. Werner would kick two more points to one in reply from MacEoin, and the Muskerry champions trailed by one, when Ballinora, whose running game caused problems for Rovers all through, broke through on goal once more with time almost up.

Where many would have taken the easy option and fisted the ball over the ball, a confident Werner cut inside and dispatched a shot that finally beat the hitherto unbeatable O’Sullivan. Rovers did launch one more attack to force penalties at the very least but could not convert the opportunity and the ball was scrambled clear to signal huge celebrations for the men in red and green. Disappointment, then, for Rovers, but pride too restored in a club that has endured a number of difficult seasons. They will hope to make it back to the same stage next year and go one step further.

Another team in white that could not be accused of waving the white flag were the hurlers from Bandon, who endured similar disappointment as Aghabullogue claimed yet another county title in what has been an outrageous period of success for the club in both codes. The same players provide the backbone of both their football and hurling teams, which goes to show, you just can’t beat a good crop. It’s hard enough to do well in one code for a rural club, let alone climb the ranks in both at the same time as they are doing.

The sporting drama was not confined to Sunday, as Saturday afternoon saw the Barrs come from behind to claim a late win over their hosts in Clonmel. I tuned into the latter stages here and the Barrs looked in trouble, trailing by a point and with Clonmel controlling possession and territory.

Some stout defending from their experienced defence combined with the drive of Cork hurlers William Buckley, Brian Hayes and Ethan Twomey as well as inspirational duo Ian Maguire and Steven Sherlock, the Barrs clipped four points in a row to claim a late victory.

That game was played in heavy conditions whereas Kilmacabea’s Cork junior semi-final clash with Charleville was postponed, and they will now hope the weather and pitches oblige this weekend so they can secure a tilt at another county junior final.

The weather we can’t control, but provision of more high-quality pitches akin to the surface at Páirc Uí Chaoimh across the county is something we can aim for. This is a national issue as the GAA calendar goes all the year round, and by and large the playing fields tend to deteriorate between here and well into the spring. Here in Ross, we are lucky that we did make such an investment and now have two fine pitches, so much so that the old pitch at Newtown hosted the schools match between Clonakilty Community College and Skibbereen Community School last week.

I walked the pitch on Sunday morning last, and it was still in great nick. Trust me, that pitch would not have taken that much rain and been playable just a few short years ago. I still get flashbacks of running through the ankle-deep mud on the cold, wet winter nights in my years playing with Ross.

All-weather 4G pitches are all well and good and are part of the solution for sport in this country, but they are less than optimum for Gaelic football given the intensity of twisting and turning involved, and quality grass pitches are far superior and preferable. Given the predictions for wetter winters ahead, these investments are a necessity.