Cork GAA talking points: All-Star club players, gripping finals and Sars' Munster challenge
Daniel Kearney will be hoping to secure a Munster championship victory at the fifth time of asking. Picture: Dan Linehan
While the Premier Senior showdown between Castlehaven and Nemo didn't captivate the neutrals, there was only a bounce of a ball between the winners and losers in all four county finals over the weekend.
The main event at Páirc Uí Choaimh on Sunday concluded in a welter of excitement.
Newcestown prevailed in the SAHC replay after holding off a late Blarney surge, St Finbarr's kicked 1-2 coming down the stretch to deny Kilmurry by the minimum in the Premier Junior decider, Cill na Martra beat Bantry 3-11 to 2-13 in a stone cold PIFC classic and the Haven grabbed the last three points to pip Nemo by two.
While some argue the Cork system is too ruthless, and the 12-club format in each tier leaves very little margin for error, it has produced grippy and closely contested county finals across the board.
The only surprise is that there has only been one replay to date. Mitchelstown versus Aghabullogue in the IAFC final on Sunday and Doheneys-Newcestown in the SAFC on Saturday week could well need second encounters to produce a winner.
The Reardens Club All-Stars are back this year, which means there is some serious debate ahead as the judges narrow down the candidates before the presentation night at the end of November.
The popular scheme has been in place since the 2012 campaign and rewards the standout club performers in camogie, ladies football, hurling and football. The challenge is to separate individual displays from the collective achievement of lifting silverware.
With group stages in place, there are more options than ever to make the All-Star 15s, though the county champions Castlehaven, Mourneabbey and Sars, victors in hurling and camogie, will still naturally be to the fore.
The Cork senior hurling champions have failed to make their mark on the provincial and All-Ireland series since Newtownshandrum in the noughties. Following Newtown's victory in 2009, Glen Rovers, who were beaten by Ballyea in 2016, are the only Cork club to even reach the Munster final in the modern era.
Sars take on Ballygunner on Sunday hoping to buck that trend but they couldn't have been handed a tougher opener. They're away to the Waterford kingpins who are going for three in a row and a fourth Munster crown since 2018.
John Crowley and Diarmuid O'Sullivan's charges have had ample time to celebrate and regroup since they edged out Midleton in the county final. The Riverstown club is acutely aware of how demanding the Munster championship is, after being beaten four times from 2008 to '14 and only winning one game, when they were last on top on Leeside.
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