Muskerry JAFC final preview: Aghinagh fancied to overcome Inniscarra
Liam Twohig will be a key player for Aghinagh on Sunday. Picture: Jim Coughlan
The 2024 Ross Oil Muskerry Junior A football championship final takes place on Sunday as Aghinagh meet Inniscarra in Grenagh at 3pm.
It’s no surprise that these two teams are meeting in the decider, both were tipped to go very deep into the Mid-Cork championship at the start of the season and that’s the way it has transpired.
Inniscarra lost the final to Canovee last season by six points with the Carrigadrohid-based side going on to win the County JAFC title. They are in the Premier JFC decider tomorrow against rivals Kilmurry at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (8pm).
In Aghinagh’s case, after Canovee’s elevation last season, the team in blue and white were installed as the outright favourites for the Mid-Cork crown this year closely followed by the likes of Inniscarra and Donoughmore.
They have shown that three years ago wasn’t just a flash in the pan. They have lost to the eventual winners of the county in the last two years. Aghinagh were beaten by Kilmurry in the Muskerry final two years ago before falling to Canovee in the last campaign at the semi-final stage.
Aghabullogue club man Danny Buckley did a fabulous job at the helm during his time in charge, which included that memorable achievement in 2021. He stepped down as boss at the end of last season paving the way for former Cork minor and U20 football boss Bobbie O’Dwyer to take over. The latter guided the minors to All-Ireland glory in 2019.
Aghinagh have justified their favourites tag so far. They collected five points from their three championship group games, beating Grenagh 4-15 to 2-6, hammering Dripsey 7-16 to 1-8 before drawing with Ballincollig’s second string as it finished 3-5 to 1-11. They managed to book a direct route to the semi-final.
A tricky looking last-four encounter was in prospect against Donoughmore, especially after the Mossie Barrett-managed team impressively dispatched Ballincollig in the quarter-final on a scoreline of 2-12 to 0-9. Aghinagh trailed 1-8 to 0-7 going into the last quarter, but finished strong to win 1-14 to 1-10.
Inniscarra will come into the decider in a confident mood after their 1-7 to 0-7 success over a strong Éire Óg reserve side in the semi-final two weeks ago. Cork hurling captain Seán O’Donoghue played an instrumental role for Scarra, landing four points, all from play.
Inniscarra won all their three group matches, beating second teams Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh and Ballinora before winning against Blarney 2-14 to 1-0, which secured a semi-final spot.
It looked like extra time was on the cards for Inniscarra against Éire Óg last day out, with the teams level at 0-7 each after 28 minutes, but a goal by the experienced Dan O’Connell a minute later was the decisive score as Scarra came out on top, 1-7 to 0-7.
The Ballyanly outfit are aiming to win the Muskerry crown for the first time since 1989, their sole success.
Along with O’Donoghue, Inniscarra will be looking to the likes of Liam O’Connor, Dylan O’Sullivan and Shay Dineen to fire them to victory.
They will need to play very well to have a chance of winning. Aghinagh’s experience and more spread of scorers could be crucial in getting over the line.
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