Paudie Palmer: Knocknagree's remarkable rise will be fully tested by St Michael's

THE big game next weekend is the Premier Senior Football final between the two southside heavyweights, St Finbarr’s and Nemo Rangers.

However, the curtain raiser between Knocknagree and St Michael’s in the Senior A will grab its fair share of headlines.

In the city corner, you have their tale of losing woe and in the country side of the ring you have JFD, John Fintan Daly, the manager of Knocknagree.

When neutrals want you to win, it could be construed as a symptom of failure, but first, let’s look at the stats.

On Sunday, when St Michael's make the short journey from the fishing village to Pairc Uí Chaoimh, it will be their seventh final appearance in 10 years at the second grade of Cork football.

The first five finals were in Premier Intermediate and when that was rechristened Senior A in 2020, they contested last year’s decider. Regardless of the name of the competition, defeat was their lot on each occasion. To add to the misery, three of the losses were by a one-point margin, and the others were by a margin of two, three, and four points. Surely fortune will intervene at some stage.

When Fintan Daly first met the players on New Year’s Day 2013, Knocknagree were sailing with some difficulty in the Duhallow Junior Football Championship. Now they are one victory away from the top table.

Part of his strategy involves him wearing the bainisteoir bib for the club’s second team and for their third when that came into existence. In the last 10 years, they have won 23 trophies, including the Paidí Ó Sé tournament. 

By any standards, it is some haul.

At the last time of counting, Fintan Daly has been at the helm for 480-plus games and just north of 800 training sessions.

When he first came on board, he adopted a youth policy. The first of the 23 trophies was the 2013 Ducon Cup, the Duhallow Junior A Football League, where the elder statesmen were 24 years of age. Four players, Kaelan Buckley, Danny Cooper, Matthew Dilworth, and Donagh Moynihan are still vital participants nine years later.

In 2014, Knocknagree reached their first Duhallow final in 23 years but lost by a point when former Cork hurler Mark Ellis scored a late goal for Millstreet. Eoghan McSweeney scored four points that day as a 16-year-old. 

Back then, decoupling applied at U16 level and McSweeney was able to line out because his date of birth is December 31! Over the past few years, injuries have limited his involvement, but his contribution on Sunday could be vital.

WATERSHED

In 2015, they lost the county junior semi-final to Bandon and, a year later, a watershed moment was reached in their development journey. After a replay, again at the county semi-final stage, they lost to Gabriel Rangers by a point after recording 24 wides.

Twelve months later, they were county champions, defeating Erin’s Own in the decider. They went on to add a Munster and All-Ireland title and they were now operating in the county championship arena. 

In 2019, they captured the Intermediate A championship, overcoming Gabriel Rangers 2-10 to 1-12 and when the 2020 version of the PIFC was completed in August 2021, they were again on the podium looking down on their defeated Duhallow neighbours, Kanturk.

Those predicting the outcome of Sunday’s intriguing contest may be influenced by the two recent previous meetings between the pair, which were won by the city side. Make no mistake, the team on the 10-year run after winning 23 trophies has built up a bank of resistance that is going to be difficult to overcome. 

Some within the inner circles will inform you that at the final whistle on Sunday, the great JFD, regardless of the result, will exit stage left; a victory would be the ultimate definition of crowning glory.

On the other side of the coin, the ability of St Michael’s to return to the dance floor after a plethora of rejections is a serious hallmark of their identity. 

It should also be noted that in that neck of Cork city, they have to be in constant battle mode to keep up with the Blackrock hurling joneses!

Their half-back line of Tom Lenihan, Joe Golden, and Alan O’Callaghan, coupled with a midfield pairing that more than likely will include two from the trio of Andrew Murphy, Daniel Meaney, and Billy Cain, should ensure a plentiful supply for the shooters.

The flags raisers are the headline makers and the south city representatives will be hoping that their inside line of Adam Hennessy, Robbie Cotter, and Eric Hegarty will make sure that media quote seekers will be heading in their direction around 3:20. A victory by either side will be a marvellous story and I certainly expect a large chunk of entertainment will attach.

Contact: paudie.palmer@hotmail.com Twitter: @paudiep