Muskerry U21 A football championship final preview

TOMORROW: Macroom Motors Muskerry U21 A football championship final: Ballinora v Naomh Abán, Ovens, 2pm 

A novel pairing in the Mid-Cork U21 A football decider after both sides caused somewhat of an upset in their respective semi-finals last weekend.

Ballincollig and Éire Óg have dominated this particular championship for the past 20 years and both would have been fancied to clash in the final for the sixth season on the bounce. The last winners other than Ballincollig or Éire Óg were Kilmurry who won this title back in 2018. Many of those Kilmurry players are now back boning their first team in the premier junior football grade.

Despite missing a number of players due to injuries and other reasons, Ballincollig still should have had enough quality to get over the line a week ago in Ballymah against the home side. Ballinora hung in there and prevailed by a point, 1-14 to 0-16, in what was an excellent game of football for the time of year. 

Robert and Michael Quirke hit the key scores for the winners, with the latter’s goal seven minutes into the second-half proving decisive. Ronan Barrow, Nathan Davis and James Byrne were influential in defence, Shane Kingston was busy around midfield, while the aforementioned Quirkes and Kevin Werner were excellent up front.

Ballinora have high hopes for this group of young players, who have won a lot coming up through the underage ranks. In 2017 they won the U14 East A football championship which was followed two years later by claiming the league and championship double at U16 A level. In 2021 the team won the county premier 2 U18 football championship crown after beating a strong Valley Rovers side in the final. 11 of the U21 players have played intermediate championship for the first team.

Ballinora are aiming to win this title for the first time in their history.

Their opposition in the decider tomorrow, Naomh Abán, adjusted to the top grade last Sunday with a fine win over Éire Óg in Ovens on a scoreline of 1-11 to 1-9. The Ballyvourney men won the Muskerry U21 B championship last year after a four-point win over Inniscarra in the final and there hasn’t been a huge turnover of players, which has helped with continuity.

Cork U20 footballer Ed Myers was to the fore for his team against Éire Óg, landing 1-7, but it’s far from a one-man show in what is a well drilled and balanced side. The ball into Myers was also top notch with top performances from Jack O’Donoghue, Jack Murphy, Adrian Casey and Daniel Kelly. Naomh Abán last won this crown back in 1995, and went on to lose the county final that year to Mallow.

This is a very difficult final to call, given the two teams played so well in the semi-finals, beating two very good sides. A tentative vote for Ballinora.