A QUIETER weekend this weekend, with no stags or county finals to speak of. It’s no harm to take a breather sometimes, but it means there is less action for us to digest.

The football fields were not completely silent though as Cork champions St Finbarr's learned they will face Clonmel Commercials in the Munster club quarter-final on away soil this coming weekend. The Barrs will be wary of a side that had a victory over Nemo Rangers in the not-too-distant past, but there will be confidence in the boys in blue having claimed Munster honours as recently as 2021.

The bookmakers make Dingle outright favourites for provincial honours, and understandably so given they are backboned by the O’Sullivans and Geaneys of Kerry inter-county fame. However, their Cork counterparts have an enviable record in this competition and won’t fear the Kerry champions if that encounter comes to pass.

As well as The Barrs needing to do the business against a strong Clonmel side and Eire Óg of Ennis if they do so, Dingle will have to get past Limerick champions Mungret St Paul's, who have former Carbery Ranger Rob Hegarty manning the number three jersey at full-back. Rathgormack of Waterford are the only team already eliminated having been beaten by Clare champions Eire Óg.

Closer to home, Kilmacabea also now know that they will need to overcome Charleville to reach another county junior final. Having won their first West Cork title in 2017, Leap have become the dominant force at this grade in Carbery, adding another four titles since, including the last two. That said, the club and the players involved will feel they have enough West Cork medals at this point and adding the county title is the one they want the most. Two more wins will do the trick, starting in Pairc Ui Rinn this Saturday at 3pm.

This weekend also sees the highly anticipated replay between Ilen Rovers and Ballinora after their exciting draw last Sunday week. Rovers manager Flor O’Driscoll feels there is plenty of room for improvement in his side after the drawn encounter, and they will need to be better as they won’t want to rely on goalkeeping heroics this time around. Moving back into the third tier of Cork football is the price at stake in Pairc Ui Chaoimh this Sunday at 1.30pm – incidentally just before the Bandon hurlers finally get their shot at county glory in the same grade. A big day for the teams in white from the west. It has been a less than stellar year for Carbery teams so some success for the west would be very welcome.

Last but not least, I must give mention to the Carbery Rangers Junior C footballers who will face Gabriel Rangers in the West Cork final in Skibbereen on Saturday at 2pm. It may be far from the bright lights of Pairc Ui Chaoimh, however all medals have their own value and the Mighty Cs will be gunning for glory of their own. Technically I am eligible to play, but co-manager Mike O’Rourke has told me I wouldn’t make the team at this stage so I won’t be digging out any old boots for this weekend. Having had one solitary game of astro soccer in the last four months, which resulted in a groin strain, I think all are better off.

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The fixtures are out for National Football League 2026 and Cork will, once again, have four substantial away journeys to undertake having been drawn to travel to Tyrone, Derry, Louth and Offaly.

Cork will have home comforts against Kildare, Cavan and Meath. The good news is that all those home games are winnable, despite our less-than-perfect record in SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh in recent years.

A clean sweep of wins in those contests and two victories on the road will be the target for John Cleary if the long-awaited promotion is to be secured. Tyrone away is the toughest game on paper and odds will be against Cork in that one, while Derry will also be warm favourites when Cork travel north to the walled city. We know plenty about Louth at this stage given recent encounters and Cork will probably have to reverse recent away results against the Wee County before turning over Offaly in Tullamore, which is also easier said than done.Assuming Tyrone take the top spot, Derry will be favourites to join them in the league final and take the second promotion spot. Cork look as good a bet as any of the rest to push that duo, and it will be interesting to see the make-up of Cleary’s squad when the new year rolls around.

We know that there has been withdrawals already, with Sean Powter heading for Australia and Hugh O’Connor deciding that the hurlers are a better bet for him. In better news, Steven Sherlock has decided to have another bite of the cherry in the red jersey.

There has been speculation that another two-point specialist in the form of David Buckley is considering whether to return or not for 2026, but hopefully management will be able to persuade him that opportunities will await if he commits for another year. He is a young player who hasn’t had much game time for Cork, but he should hang on for the chance to show what he can do at the highest level for at least the start of the season. Buckley could be a shot of fresh blood for Cork next year that we definitely need, and if Cleary and company could unearth another one or two from the recent club championships, that would be very welcome.

Buckley’s club-mate, Luke Meade, looks to have no future with the hurlers under Ben O’Connor, so could he follow Conor Cahalane in joining the football squad after the end of his hurling career? In an ideal world, the footballers wouldn’t need those not deemed good enough by the hurlers, but if they are good enough with the big ball, we can’t turn our nose up at anyone with something to offer at this point in time.

Such is the way with the GAA, the clock has all but run out on the club season within the county so thoughts turn quickly to what will happen on the inter-county scene for 2026, except for those lucky few with Munster club aspirations still to play for. The old maxim in the GAA has always been ‘There’s always next year’, and next year won’t be long coming around now.

Those who have had long, hard seasons should enjoy the downtime because the rodeo starts again anew straight away in the new year. That said, the season is not done yet, starting with some big games this weekend.

County titles for Ilen Rovers and Bandon would shorten the winters in both those club, while over in Leap they will be hoping the season can go on for another couple of weeks at least. Good luck to all again.