John Horgan: There's something special about Junior A hurling

THE end game in the Cork County hurling championship season is fast approaching with only a few bits and pieces to be sorted before the curtain falls.

However, those bits and pieces are hugely important in their own right and for the clubs involved, the remaining games may well be the most important of their lives to this point.

What we are talking about here are the concluding stages of the Cork County junior A and B competitions.

Much has changed over the years where those competitions are concerned and the junior A county hurling championship is now the sixth tier of Cork hurling.

There is no doubt that its status has been diminished but for the club that wins the Johnny Quirke Trophy, the victory, quite rightly, will be celebrated with just as much enthusiasm as if it was one of the higher-grade competitions.

Go back through the ages and if you encounter anyone who has a county junior hurling medal in his possession he will tell you it is something to be cherished.

And of course it is. To get your hands on that medal you have to endure a lengthy campaign, firstly at divisional level and thereafter you compete with the rest of the divisional winners across the county.

To end up with the ultimate prize you could be involved in seven or eight games and anything you get at the end of it is hard-earned.

We are down to the final two in the quest to be the A champions, city representatives Nemo Rangers and the North Cork champions, Harbour Rovers from Glanworth.

In the junior B competition, it will be Douglas, Killeagh or Fermoy who will take home the silverware. Yes, the second or third teams of some of those clubs, but for the players involved nothing will be spared in their endeavours.

Fermoy are safely berthed in the final after defeating Inniscarra last weekend and on Sunday night Douglas and Killeagh will do battle in the second semi-final.

Back to the junior A final, it has not been a good year for city clubs on the hurling front, the Barrs losing their senior crown and Glen Rovers losing their premier status.

Concern has been expressed in many quarters about the state of the game in the city, more so on the northside with no club from that area in the top flight.

To be fair, the Glen did win the Premier County minor title, their second in a short couple of years and that has to provide optimism going forward.

So, it it has been left to Nemo to salvage something on the adult stage and their decider with Harbour Rovers is brimful with potential if last weekend’s semi-finals are an indicator.

Nemo, of course, are far more renowned for their footballing exploits but in that great club, hurling is every bit as important and always has been.

A glance through the club’s history will more than prove that viewpoint and those of us in advanced years can recall them being a senior hurling club in the 1970s.

Some of the club’s greatest footballers were also hurlers of great renown and a hurling team in Nemo will generate as much support as a football team.

The present crop are certainly keeping the flag flying and last weekend’s victory over Ballinora was another exhibition of the depth of character in Trabeg.

A late, late goal from Jack Horgan catapulted them into the final against Harbour Rovers who also showed their willingness to go right to the wire.

They trailed Carrignavar by six points at one stage, but a powerful riposte has them now looking forward to a day out at headquarters, one of the biggest occasions in their history.

Both Nemo and the Rovers are the first teams in both clubs and that will make victory for either all the sweeter.

There are some fine hurlers on on both sides, players like Stephen Condon and David Pyne are very highly-rated forwards for the Rovers.

Nemo’s last line of defence is that wonderful servant and former Cork footballing great, James Masters and the likes of Shane Horgan, Ronan Dalton, and Mark Cronin are fine hurlers too.

Yes, despite its status being diminished and many of the participants now being the second or third teams of clubs, the county junior hurling championship should still be held in high regard.

Next year it will be 60 years since my own club, Castlemartyr triumphed over Cloughduv in the final on a horrible Sunday in the old Athletic Grounds and nearly a lifetime later one can fondly remember it.

In the 1960 a junior hurling final in east Cork could generate an attendance of five or six thousand in Midleton and many travelled long distances for those games.

Those days are long gone but there has always been something about junior hurling that still means so much.

Preparing for a county junior hurling final in the depths of winter as Nemo and Harbour Rovers are currently doing bring a huge buzz to the clubs involved. The final is often played in poor weather and the standards of today may not compete with the past, but the endeavour levels and the desire to land that old cannister will be as great as ever.

Down through the years we have had some great county junior finals, indeed better than finals at higher levels.

EPIC

One that stands out was the 2012 decider when Kildorrery defeated Brian Dillon’s in a replay after two epic games. There’s an endless list of other cracking finals too, in many instances two rural clubs battling it out for the big prize.

Erin’s Own were worthy winners last season and the great work was carried forward into this season when they took the premier junior title.

It will be first things first for Nemo and Harbour Rovers when they collide in the final next weekend but who knows, it could be a step on the road to bigger things.

Attending and reporting on county junior hurling final days for this observer was always a joy and the latest instalment should be eagerly looked forward to too.