Junior football previews: Boherbue on the road to redemption against Aghinagh

THREE months after the heartbreak of a county junior football championship final defeat, Boherbue find themselves on the road to redemption.

They clinched a record fifth consecutive Duhallow title following their 2-9 to 1-10 win over Cullen to earn the right to represent the north-west barony in the county.

Back in early August, Boherbue found a crack Iveleary outfit too much of a handful, something which has continued in intermediate A, but now it’s rookies Aghinagh who stand in their way.

The game was originally listed for Millstreet on Sunday at 1pm, but has been put back to Tuesday night.

The Duhallow champions have a wealth of experience at this stage and that should be a major factor in their favour, particularly as their opponents only secured their first Muskerry title on Tuesday night.

But, it’s atoning for the 2020 final defeat which will drive Boherbue to a semi-final meeting with either Urhan or Bride Rovers.

The likes of keeper Kevin Murphy, Kevin Cremin, Alan O’Connor, Gerry O’Sullivan, Jerry O’Connor, Pa Daly and two-goal divisional final hero, Alan O’Connor, reflect the experience and know-how in their set-up.

Boherbue had injury and suspension issues going into the Duhallow decider and the fact that Cremin didn’t line out in the senior championship loss to Clonakilty two days later could be a concern.

Aghinagh’s celebrations are sure to have been cut short as a result of returning to action so quickly, but they will be emboldened by the 1-12 to 0-9 win over Ballincollig’s second string.

Amazingly, Aghinagh supplied only two scorers and one of them, centre-forward Liam Twohig, accounted for 1-11, including seven from frees, with Michael Horgan notching the other score.

Boherbue are the popular fancies to progress, probably against Bride, who take on the Beara representatives in Ahiohill tomorrow at 2pm.

The Rathcormac club won a very competitive east Cork title, emerging from a difficult group containing the holders Midleton, previous champions Erin’s Own and Fr O’Neill’s before overcoming Carrigtwohill, Lisgoold and Cobh in the final, winning by 3-9 to 0-10.

Bride finished with a flourish, outscoring Cobh by 1-4 in the closing 10 minutes with man-of-the-match Cian Hogan producing one of the goals.

They’re also on the senior A hurling trail and with a good chunk of dual players, Bride will have no issues with fitness or game-time and should be more battle-hardened than Urhan.

The Carbery final was only played last night between Tadhg MacCarthaighs and St Mary’s and the despite the sudden turnaround their county quarter-final against Carrigdhoun champions, Ballinhassig, goes ahead as scheduled in Bandon on Sunday at 1pm.

The south-east club reached the semi-final of the premier intermediate hurling championship, where they face the hot favourites Castlelyons, but it’s football for the moment.

Regardless of their opponents, Ballinhassig will be the outsiders, but they’ll still carry confidence from winning their second divisional title in three years into the tie.

Diarmuid O’Sullivan was the star of their 1-7 to 1-5 win over Ballygarvan in the final, when he scored 0-6 of their tally, including four frees, with Eoin Lombard grabbing the all-important goal.

The winners here meet either Douglas’s second string or new Avondhu champions, Kilworth, in the semi-final.

They square up in Mourneabbey tomorrow at 2pm after winning their respective divisions last weekend.

Douglas have a nice blend of youth and experience and a clutch of players who’ve played with Cork at various levels.

Cian O’Leary is the goalkeeper from the 2019 All-Ireland minor winning side and in front of him is Eoin Cotter, who was in the 2010 Sam Maguire Cup-winning panel.

Centre-back Jamie Davis played with Cork at underage level as did midfielder and captain Eoin O’Sullivan, who was the man-of-the-match in the 0-12 to 1-4 win over St Michael’s in the final.

Kilworth secured their first north Cork title with a 4-11 to 1-15 extra-time victory over Buttevant in the decider.

Eoin Carey, from a penalty, captain Will Condon, Brian Sheehan and Luke Carey, in extra-time, supplied the all-important goals for the new champions.

The junior B championship also gets underway with Urhan and Douglas also represented in that competition.