Cork GAA Talking Points: Haven's Munster prospects, sleeping giants Carrigaline and Glanmire awaken and Junior hurling breakthroughs
Jack O'Neill awaits the final whistle for Castlehaven in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture: Larry Cummins
The Haven matched their successive counties of 2012-'13 by seeing off Nemo with a second-half surge on Sunday afternoon.
They were fancied beforehand but it didn't diminish their achievement, inflicting back-to-back county final losses on the Trabeg powerhouse for the first time. Castlehaven now move into the Munster series where they'll travel to take on Kerry blue bloods Dr Crokes.
Mark Collins lifted the Munster crown 12 months ago after his side beat Dingle in a penalty shootout and they'll be eager to make an impact again, which would give them a shot at a first All-Ireland. Certainly, they played as well in Cork in beating St Finbarr's and Nemo as they did last season. And that was serious going, reflecting the efforts of new manager Seanie Cahalane who had big shoes to fill when James McCarthy stepped away.
He's been on the Cork squad without featuring much but needs a chance to shine next spring in the league.
It might not have been high-scoring but it was certainly enthralling, as Kilmurry squeezed out Canovee in the Premier Junior decider 0-10 to 1-6. Cormac Linehan's charges atoned for last season's gutting defeat when they were caught with a late, late St Finbarr's goal.
On this occasion they grabbed the injury-time winner Canovee were left with a few regrets as is always the case in such close encounters but having landed the Junior A crown last year they'll be front-runners again in 2025. Liam Wall was the hero with his winning point and they partied hard across the Bank Holiday weekend after edging out their parish rivals.
Glanmire have as many underage footballers as Douglas and Ballincollig and primarily compete at Premier 1 level from U14 up to minor.
However, until Saturday's IAFC final comeback against Boherbue, where they rallied from a seven-point deficit in the Páirc, they hadn't won a county since Teddy McCarthy was at the heart of their triumph 37 years ago. They were beaten after a cracking series of clashes with St Vincent's in 2005 and the current management team includes Mark Hopkins, Michael Cussen and Kieran 'Fraggie' Murphy from that era.
Hopkins summed it up perfectly.
“With the population we have and the player group that we have and the under-age – the minor team, U16, U14, they’re all flying – so we need to be competing at a higher level.
“I don’t mean that disrespectfully, but for the promotion of football. We needed to be competitive and we have been, thankfully."
Interestingly, Glanmire were allowed to move from the Imokilly division to Seandún for next season, which means their second and third adult teams will now compete in the City Junior A and B competitions.
Carrigaline, another club with a huge pool to pick from, also collected a cup, returning to Premier Senior after being demoted last season, making it a double after their Kelleher Shield victory in July.
On Saturday, Central Council endorsed the revised list of football rule changes to go to Special Congress on November 30.
Amendments include keeping the value of a goal at three points instead of four, a 'two-pointer' converted outside the arc will be signalled by an orange flag and it'll be a black card offence "to prevent or restrict, or to attempt to prevent or restrict, an opponent from moving or from playing the ball, by holding up an opponent". That seems wide open to interpretation and while a four-point goal seemed an extreme change it was tied into the two-point long-range shot. Now a two-pointer is relatively more valuable.
If the proposals go through at the end of November, they'll be in across the board for 2025 on a trial basis at club and inter-county level.
The Football Review Committee's plans are radical but with only a few low-stakes Railway Cup matches to go off, it's very difficult to access if they'll be successful.
App?
