Latest chapter in Kiskeam and Knocknagree rivalry to be written this weekend

IT doesn’t get any bigger than a local derby no matter if it’s championship or a league clash.

Near neighbours and fierce rivals Kiskeam and Knocknagree lock horns on Sunday in the McCarthy Insurance Group Division 2 football league in what should draw a large attendance to Kiskeam for the 11.30am throw-in. It’s still early days with only two games played, with both sides still trying to find that spark to ignite their campaign and what better way than winning against the crowd from over the road.

Despite being the closest of neighbours, fixtures between these two Duhallow clubs have been few and far between over the last 20 years or thereabouts. It was only at the start of the 2017 season that Kiskeam were just on the back of winning the PIFC title and were preparing for the campaign ahead in the top-flight of Cork football. Back then, if you were fortunate to bag the PIFC, it would elevate you to the top grade, until the new senior A football grade came into play from the start of the 2020 season.

Knocknagree were steadily improving in 2017, but were still stuck in the Duhallow JAFC, but that year would be the very start of their journey which has seen them reach the SAFC grade, where they have been since the 2021 championship. It was a sensational rise by Knocknagree as they won the Cork and Munster junior championships in 2017, All-Ireland title in 2018, IFC winners in 2019 and the following season the PIFC. John Fintan Daly’s outfit joined Kiskeam in the SAFC in 2021. The team in black and white fell out of the top-tier at the end of 2019 due to the restructuring of the grades.

The sides met in the SAFC nearly three years ago, the autumn of 2021, which is the last first-team meeting. It was the first championship group stage game before a huge attendance in Boherbue, but it was a slicker Knocknagree outfit that prevailed on a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-5.

The club’s second teams came up against each other nine days ago in the Duhallow Ducon Cup, with Kiskeam winning 1-10 to 0-11, in what was played before a sizable crowd.

Both sides come into Sunday’s league fixture on the back of contrasting results. Kiskeam lost 2-9 to 0-10 against Fermoy, which was their second defeat from two outings. Meanwhile, Knocknagree bounced back from the 3-12 to 0-13 drubbing by O’Donovan Rossa by beating Valley Rovers 1-6 to 0-3.

Both sides will be contenders in the SAFC when that comes around, pretty much every team in that grade is a contender. A win on Sunday might just be the launchpad for what could potentially be an historic year for one of the Duhallow giants.