Can a Cork club bring All-Ireland football glory back to the county?
Brian Hurley was in sharp form for Castlehaven against Cratloe at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. Picture: Tom Beary/Sportsfile
CORK currently holds the record for most All-Ireland GAA senior football club titles with 11 trophies.
That accolade is fast eroding however, with Dublin on nine titles and drawing ever closer to the Rebel county with each passing year. Galway aren’t far behind (seven) thanks to Corofin’s three-in-row between 2018 and 2020 which moved the Connacht county one ahead of Kerry.
In an era Cork’s senior footballers continue to struggle at the business end of the All-Ireland SFC inter-county series, success in the national club championships looks more likely in the short to medium term.
It’s not like Cork hasn’t featured in All-Ireland senior club deciders in recent times. Granted, Nemo Rangers’ 2003 All-Ireland senior triumph, the county’s last All-Ireland club success, over Crossmolina is a decade old this year.
In the interim, the Capwell club also lost national deciders to St Vincent’s (2008) and Corofin (2018). Nemo also fell to Corofin at the penultimate stage in 2020 while St Finbarr’s were cruelly denied by Kilcoo after extra time in 2022’s All-Ireland senior semi-finals.
The point is, in recent times, once a Cork senior club champion manages to emerge from the province, they remain as capable as ever of mixing it with the best from Ulster, Leinster and Connacht.
A major reason for that has been the revamping of the county’s club football championship structures. Introducing promotion and relegation has delivered closer matches across multiple grades. More importantly, the cream is rising to the top in each championship, most notably at Premier Senior. The Barr’s, Nemo and Castlehaven have shared the last seven titles with the latter the most recent winners.
Castlehaven’s 1-12 to 0-11 Munster SFC quarter-final victory over Cratloe kept the Premier SFC county champions provincial and All-Ireland hopes alive last Sunday.
Colm Collins’s side went toe-to-toe with the Haven for over two hours, including extra time, before eventually succumbing to a Robbie Minihane goal and seven Brian Hurley points.
Against Cratloe, the West Cork club’s experience of winning tight Cork PSFC championship games stood to them when it came to qualifying for the provincial semi-finals.
This year, the Haven defeated Valley Rovers by six points, Clonakilty by two, Ballincollig by three, St Finbarr’s by one and Nemo Rangers by two to become Premier Senior champions.
When the chips were down, against a Cratloe team they were level with nine times, Castlehaven didn’t panic and used their club championship experiences to get over the line.
A similar effort will be needed away to Waterford’s Rathgormack in the Munster SFC semi-finals, and if successful, in the provincial decider and beyond.
Yet, this 2023 Castlehaven team couldn’t be better prepared for that challenge having come through such a challenging PSFC.
O’Donovan Rossa and Glanmire are two Cork LGFA clubs that know all about heartache when it comes to county final defeats.
Rossa’s were well beaten by Naomh Abán in last year’s intermediate decider before bouncing back to claim this year’s IFC county title at the expense of Dohenys. The Skibbereen club’s marvellous Munster LGFA 0-12 to 1-7 Munster LGFA junior A success over Clounmacon/Moyvane (Kerry) was richly deserved last Saturday.
Similar to their neighbouring Castlehaven’s men’s team, the momentum gained from an undefeated JAFC club championship run has propelled O’Donovan Rossa to provincial glory and an outside chance of All-Ireland success.
Glanmire LGFA knows all about county final heartbreak. The memories of three consecutive Cork LGFA IFC county final losses would have broken the resolve of most clubs. Not Glanmire. Their 2023 0-11 to 1-7 intermediate county final defeat of Naomh Abán elicited the most emotional of responses at MTU last month.
Glanmire has tapped into the momentum of claiming a county title to conquer their province. A 0-8 to 1-3 Munster LGFA IFC final win over Limerick’s Monagea cemented Glanmire’s ascent last Sunday.
The Glanmire, O’Donovan Rossa and Castlehaven juggernaut continues to build up speed and could yet culminate in the ultimate club glory.
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