Pearse O'Neill still going strong as Aghada try and turn a corner 

WHILE we are in the thick of the Co-Op SuperStores hurling championships, with the opening weekend now complete and the second rounds this weekend, attention will then turn to the big ball.

There was some impressive wins for the likes of St Finbarr’s, Éire Óg, Dromtarriffe, Kilmurry and the list goes on, but in this piece, the focus will be on a team narrowly beaten in the first round of the football championship and one player in particular that is still motoring along nicely.

At 43 years of age and even though he didn’t score, Pearse O’Neill's performance for Aghada in a narrow three point defeat to Cill na Martra in the PIFC was incredible. I spoke highly of him on the podcast last week. When I walked past him after the game he looked like a fella that could keep running all day and the truth is, he probably would have very well done so.

He covered every blade of the Cloughduv grass. He will turn 44 in December as it just shows that age is only a number. Some man. Growing up he was one of the players I admired on the Cork football team and when Cork won the All-Ireland football title in 2010, I was very happy for the big man.

The powerhouse only joined the Cork panel in 2006 at the age of 26 and he certainly made his mark in the seven years wearing the Rebel jersey.

It wasn’t just the championship game over a week ago that I have seen O’Neill in the flesh this season. Aghada played Newcestown in a Division 2 league clash back in April. I won’t forget the day of the match as it was on Good Friday but it turned out to be a bad Friday for the Imokilly club. It was a demolishing day for the team in green and white as they lost 2-22 to 1-9 in a truly very disappointing performance played in Newcestown.

Aghada lost all nine league games this year but on that particular day, as bad as it was for Aghada, O’Neill actually came on late enough in the game, he was introduced after 47 minutes, but just those 13 minutes on the pitch, he was running around the pitch encouraging the players and trying to raise the players spirits.

In what is a young Aghada team, O’Neill’s experience and leadership will count for a lot especially now in the coming weeks as they try and regroup. But, away from talking about O’Neill, it just showed in the championship game between Cill na Martra and Aghada, that league is league and championship is championship.

As just mentioned, Aghada lost all nine Division 2 league games, Cill na Martra finished comfortably mid-table in Division 1. The Muskerry side are also the PIFC favourites. This was going to be an easy Cill na Martra win surely? But, sport can be a strange old game and Aghada were a totally different animal from the league and a far cry from what this scribe saw on Good Friday out in Newcestown. 

Cill na Martra won 0-11 to 0-8 over a week ago as they start their championship with a win, but it was nip and tuck for the vast majority of the game. John Evans' side led 0-9 to 0-7 heading into injury-time before they landed two of the last three points to get over the line.

Aghada would have taken a lot of positives from that game. The way they were set up, their application, their never say die attitude. The only thing they will be disappointed with is their shooting. Had they been more clinical, they could have maybe won this game against a Cill na Martra team who were flat. The performances of Danny Creedon, O’Neill, Diarmuid Byrne and the six backs will be encouraging going forward for Aghada. Captain Ed Leahy kept things together in defence, while the likes of Jake O’Donoghue and Kyle O’Shea were also quite good but pretty much all six backs did their job.

Key forward Aaron Berry was well marshalled by Cork senior footballer Tadhg Corkery as the team in green and white just lacked that cutting edge at the crucial stages of the game. Aghada face Na Piarsaigh in a crucial Round two match Saturday week in Cobh at 5pm.

Manager Philip Moore, a proud Rosscarbery man, but now residing in Midleton, would have been pleased with the performance in the Cill na Martra game but if they don’t win against Na Piarsaigh, then they are back to square one. 

Instead of talking about the teams that won on the opening weekend of the football championships, it’s nice to talk about Aghada, a club trying their best to turn things around after a difficult few years.