THE draw for the quarter finals of the Ross Oil Muskerry Junior A Football Championship took place over last weekend.

There is a repeat of the Mid Cork JAFC final from last year when Aghinagh went toe to toe with Ballincollig. 

The other quarter final ties are Canovee v Grenagh, Inniscarra v Kilmichael and Kilmurry v Éire Óg.

On a memorable November night last year, Aghinagh overcame Ballincollig's second team in a highly entertaining final at Macroom in front of a large crowd, a game that all associated with Aghinagh GAA will remember for quite some time. Liam Twohig was in deadly form for Aghinagh, hitting a staggering 1-11 of their 1-12 haul, and he helped to settle his side down also in the opening stages.

In the 2022 edition of the competition, Aghinagh got back on track to progress against Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh after a 0-16 to 0-3 victory.

If Aghinagh are to progress, then it is very likely Liam Twohig is going to play another vital role.

Ballincollig are sure to produce another stern assessment, but if Aghinagh are on form they look well equipped to make the semi finals.

Canovee were beaten semi finalists in 2021 and they are determined to do better this year.

With the likes of James Moynihan and Jack Kelleher in decent form, Canovee possess plenty of scoring potential within their ranks.

Grenagh though will very much be seeking to tear up the script and spring a surprise then they face off in their quarter final duel.

Inniscarra had Cork Senior Hurler Sean O’Donoghue has been making an impact for the club’s footballers, including in the victory which they had over Aghinagh in the group stage.

Kilmichael will be looking to the likes of Chris O’Connell and Conor Cotter to produce the goods, while former Cork Senior Footballer Peter Kelleher has been missing through injury.

In their respective quarter final tie, Kilmurry will face into it looking in decent shape. Players such as the likes of William Buckley have looked impressive to date and they will most certainly seek to keep that good form going.

There is good strength in depth in Éire Óg and with their second team, who put it right up to Canovee in the group stages.

Overall they should be competitive quarter final encounters. These Mid Cork JAFC last eight clashes are due to take place on the weekend of August 19th - 21st.

At this particular juncture Canovee and Kilmurry appear to be among the main contenders for the championship silverware.

But the beauty of sport is that games are never won on paper. All the quarter final teams will be hoping there is championship magic in the air to drive them to success.

Before that draw was made, the last round of group stage games in the Muskerry Junior A Football Championship took place in recent days.

Kilmurry made it three wins out of three in Group 1 and in the process made another strong statement of their championship title aspirations.

Following what was a 2-23 to 1-5 win over Dripsey, Kilmurry were impressive. The forward line including Ryan Leahy, Conor Kelleher and William Buckley were a threat throughout, while Thomas Collins and Liam Wall also getting in on the scoring act.

The other match in this particular group saw Kilmichael come out on top with a 2-8 to 1-9 win over Clondrohid.

Following the end of action in this group, Kilmurry convincingly came out on top with 6pts. Then Kilmichael were next in 2nd place with a total of 3pts gathered from their group stage encounters, with Clondrohid and Dripsey coming in 3rd and 4th place respectively.

In Group 3 of the Mid Cork JAFC, Ballincolling emerged as the victors against Donoughmore courtesy of a full time score of 3-13 to 1-9.

That result proved to be very significant indeed, with the qualifiers for the quarter finals having to be decided on scoring difference.

While in Group 2 of the JAFC, Canovee topped the group after they were handed a walkover by the second string side of Cill na Martra. Along with Canovee, Eire Og’s second team also have qualified for the quarter final stages of the competition.

The early stages of the JAFC in Muskerry has been played with four groups, with two teams emerging from the eight groups to provide the eight quarter finalists.

The final weekend of August will see the remaining games in the Muskerry Junior A Hurling Championship taking place.