GAA talking points: Daire O'Leary offers reminder of his potential to push on for Cork
Daire O'Leary has endured a tough time with injuries. Picture: INPHO/Lorraine O'Sullivan
The divisions took centre-stage at the weekend in the Premier Senior Championships, with Muskerry securing a famous one-point win over Duhallow with the big ball, before they were denied a divisional double when they were well beaten by a slick Imokilly outfit on Sunday evening.
The football win for Muskerry seems all the more special when you consider that they actually withdrew from the Premier Senior Football Championship two years ago. They had lost their opener against Beara by six and were due to face Imokilly a week later but ended up giving the eastern barony a walkover.
At that point it genuinely looked like that, amongst the divisions, only Duhallow had any real future in the competition, but Muskerry and Carbery have regrouped since and put work in to be relevant once more. Friday evening’s win means this will be the first time that Muskerry feature in the quarter-final stage of the championship since 2014, when they lost to eventual champions Ballincollig.
You would expect Duhallow to rebound and be back in the frame again from next year, but it is certainly refreshing to see an area like Muskerry, with such a proud and rich history of football, being competitive again. It is the type of goodwill story the championship has been crying out for.
Cork manager John Cleary is likely to be an interested spectator, as redeploying Jones to the 40 might give the Cork attack a new-found energy, directness and scoring threat from deep that was lacking this year.
Muskerry were hoping to make it an unlikely double at the weekend, by adding the Denis O’Riordan Cup, by winning the divisions and college section of the Premier Senior Hurling Championship, to the Tadhg Crowley Cup they bagged for winning the football equivalent on Friday.
Few gave them much of a chance against a star-studded Imokilly outfit at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday night though.
They found themselves 14 points down at half time, as a strong Imokilly side dominated all throughout the pitch to make light work of their assignment. Early on Dáire O’Leary and Ciaran Joyce dominated proceedings in the half-back line with O’Leary, in particular, spraying the ball around the place to his pacy forward line.
Given his physicality, you would expect him to be given an opportunity for Cork once more in 2025, as he would appear to have all the attributes to succeed at inter-county level, either in the half-back line, as a full-back. Or perhaps his best position for Cork might be in the holding midfield role.
The lively Jack Leahy got goal-hungry in the second half, and soon the scoreline had a lopsided look to it. Timmy Wilk was another youngster to impress, as he showed that he can perform in almost any line on the pitch, as he stood out in an attacking corner-back role.
Midleton and Kanturk met again on Saturday after the first attempt to fulfil that fixture had been cut short due a medical emergency taking place at the Castletownroche venue.
Both clubs had won their opening fixture and had the benefit of knowing that Erin’s Own had defeated Charleville in the other Group C encounter, so both knew that a positive result would see them in a great position to secure a quarter-final berth.
With that in mind, it was no great surprise to see that game ending in a draw, with Liam O’Keeffe’s late leveller for Kanturk cancelling out Cormac Beausang’s injury-time score.
Kanturk also have the safety blanket of knowing that if Midleton beat Erin’s Own they will be guaranteed qualification, even if they lose to a Charleville side who are looking for a result to keep them out of the relegation reckoning for the year.
Kanturk won the Senior A championship in 2021 and Fr. O’Neill’s picked up the same crown in 2022. It is a great sign to see sides make the leap up the Premier Senior grade and not only survive, but be able to get themselves into contention in the knockout stages.
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