Castlehaven hit for six goals as The Barrs progress to the semi-finals

AS I previously explained, I spent my Sunday morning in East Waterford and only when I reached the Dungarvan area on my way did I tune the dial to C103 and get second-half coverage of the action in Ahamilla as Cork football titans Castlehaven and St Finbarr’s met. The half-time scoreline told its own story, ten scores for Castlehaven to eight for The Barrs, but crucially four of those for the Togher side were goals. Castlehaven had not found the net at the half, and commentator Jim Nolan suggested they would need to in the second half if they were to prevail.

They would not succeed on that front, while The Barrs claimed another two. The second of those was a breakaway effort from William Buckley when the reigning champions had cut the deficit to just three with a little under ten minutes of play. The sixth and final goal was the final nail in The Haven coffin, and the back-to-back defending champions would surrender their crown at the quarter-final stage in Clonakilty.

It is the first time since 2019 that Castlehaven won’t be in the final four, and they will be disappointed to relinquish their crown, even if the players involved have more than earned some rest and relaxation after a couple of long seasons. The final scoreline was remarkable for a couple of reasons, as I don’t ever remember a team putting up 19 points and losing by ten, while I equally don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard a Castlehaven team conceding six goals at senior level at least.

That last line has jogged something in my memory, and perhaps, as a man who likes the occasional pint in The Abbey Bar in Rosscarbery, I do remember when landlord Seán’s son, Peter, got six himself against The Haven in an underage match in the old pitch in Newtown. Some achievement, and surely worth a pint the next time I get the chance to frequent one the three fine Ross public houses. I had to get that in too, because I like to keep all the publicans in my home village happy if I can!

Apologies for that slightly self-indulgent tangent, so we go back to matters on the pitch. Judging from the radio commentary, media reports and messages from friends who were at the game, The Barrs achieved this feat by deviating from the man-to-man system they have employed consistently in recent years to a system similar to what Castlehaven employed to beat them in the 2023 and 2024 semi-finals.

To be fair, it’s a system that is becoming all but ubiquitous, as teams drop numbers and defend largely in numbers behind the 45 and look to get turnovers and break quickly on the counter-attack. Having the lead means that the opposition now have to attack you, which means there is ample space to punish if you can dispossess the team in possession, and the clip I saw of Buckley’s goal showed this very clearly. Castlehaven had all the momentum until Conor Cahalane’s lateral pass was picked off and the ball was in The Haven net just seconds later.

Steven Sherlock only claimed one score from play, one of the first-half goals, but added two penalties and 0-3 from frees. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect for Brian Roche and his management team is that they weren’t totally reliant on Sherlock for scores on the day. Buckley, the ever influential Ian Maguire and Conor Dennehy pilfered the other goals between them, while five other players worked the scoreboard for seven points between them, including fit again Brian Hayes who kicked 0-2.

This was a statement of intent from the city side, and they will now be firm favourites for a semi-final against a Ballincollig side that secured a single point win over a Duhallow side that could justifiably be excused for a little weariness in the legs. Ballincollig held the lead against the same opponents until very late on in the quarter-final last year, before being reeled in at the death.

Newcestown booked a spot against Nemo Rangers in the other semi-final after a penalty shootout victory over Carrigaline in another cracking encounter in Pairc Ui Rinn. This was another high-scoring affair, reflective of much of the football around the county last weekend. 36 points were shared after extra-time before Luke Meade buried the final penalty into the net to secure Newcestown’s progression.

Much like Ballincollig, Newcestown will be largely written off and will also relish this reality. The whole county is expecting the two city giants to be in opposition in Páirc Uí Chaoimh when county final day rolls around in four weeks’ time, and that will be fuel for the fire for Jim O’Sullivan and Podsie O’Mahony this week and next. Neither side tends to be easily beaten very often, and we can preview those games in detail next weekend.

There was another draw in the relegation play-off, where Ross squandered a seven-point lead in the second half as a spirited Valley Rovers battled all the way to the end. When Jacob O’Driscoll goaled with time nearly up, Ross looked in trouble. To their credit, they secured possession from the kick-out and managed to create two great chances to retake the lead, but neither were taken. With no extra-time or penalties for relegation play-offs, before the chance to ensure they remain in Cork’s highest level of football comes around again.

Elsewhere, in the Senior A Championship, Knocknagree edged another high-scoring cracker against Kanturk, while Eire Og got the better of Bishopstown. Last year’s beaten finalists will now face Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh while the Ovens side will take on Cill na Marta in a western dominated division. Skibb got the job done against Fermoy to retain their status for next year.

Aghada and Aghabullogue beat Glanmire and Kiskeam to reach the Premier Intermediate semi-finals against Uibh Laoire and Naomh Aban respectively, while Macroom came out the right end of relegation tussle with Bandon that sounded like an epic encounter. Ilen Rovers are now hoping to pass them out in the opposite direction after an impressive win over a Mitchelstown team that contained Cathail O’Mahony, Sean Walsh and Mark Keane in the Intermediate A grade. I got that prediction wrong and unfortunately for their neighbours, Gabriel Rangers, I was off the mark in thinking they would beat Ballinora also.

Rovers play Adrigole next while Ballinora take on Kilmurry. Dromtariffe just edged St Vincent’s by a point in another high-scoring relegation classic. Relegation finals may be tense affairs, but they are producing serious drama at all levels. Canovee, Buttevant, St Nick’s and Cobh are the last four standing in a geographically diverse Premier Junior Championship, while Milstreet condemned Ballydesmond to a return to the Junior A ranks in Duhallow.

Speaking of the Junior A, my tips got little better for the Carbery Junior A quarter-finals, with only Kilmacabea coming good on my prediction of success. St Mary’s, Caheragh and Kilbrittain all defied my calls, so I hope no one was putting money down at the bookies based on my opinions. It also shows how even and unpredictable our competitions are in Cork, and that is a good thing for generating more interest in our games. The semi-finals come around next weekend, and we will look at those games next time, and I hope to redeem myself with better predictions, which will be easier said than done. The business end

approaches now, here’s to an exciting October of GAA in Cork.