Ballygarvan will demand the best of Castlemartyr in their JAFC semi-final

Not since 2010 has an East Cork Junior A Football Championship winner gone on to win the county section.

Cloyne were the last to achieve it in 2010. And that was the year of their third east Cork title in as many years.

East Cork clubs have struggled in the competition in recent years. Only Beara and Carrigdhoun have had longer waits for the county Junior A title than the Imokilly division.

Castlemartyr will be the next to try and change that.

Each of the last six East Cork JAFC titles have had a different winner. None of them have won the county.

Castlemartyr’s semi-final opponents in Ballygarvan were in the competition last year, beaten at that same semi-final stage.

That fact alone makes it a challenge for Castlemartyr, who are in uncharted territory.

“That’s definitely going to stand to them,” says Castlemartyr captain Conor Whyte. “They were there last year, lost out to Mayfield. Canovee ended up being the standout team and they showed that when they went up this year.

“That's going to stand to them and they're going to be hurting from that. They're going to be hurting from getting knocked out of the hurling as well.

“So you have to be wary that they're going to be a bit of a wounded team and they have that game under their belt in the county section, which will probably stand to them.” 

BREAK

While Castlemartyr received a bye to the semi-final and therefore have had more time to prepare – the other three semi-finalists all have a win under their belt. Does that make things more challenging?

“You’d always say if you can get a game and get over it without any injuries and get through, it will always stand to you.

“But at the same time, we had a long break between the east Cork semi-final and the final,” he says. “So look, this long break again, while not ideal, it's something that we’re kind of used to.

“The game is creeping up on us fairly quick now, we’re only about a week out. It will be four or five weeks since we won our final, but I feel like we managed the gap well again, we’re in a good spot going into it.” 

A huge factor in their marginal victory over Carrigtwohill was of course Cork senior hurling star Ciarán Joyce, who played at centre back and was integral both on the counter and on the defensive.

“With Ciaran, his attitude never changes to be fair to him. He’s always very involved. I had been involved in the U21 football team the last few years as well and he's always been involved in that, even when he's with Cork.

There has never been a question of chasing him to play.

“He wants to play. It's great to see, and it makes a big difference, especially for us. You can see the impact that he has and his attitude on the field.

“He has all the right attributes to be good footballer as well. Definitely it’s a great bonus to us and helps us in the games.” The added benefit of Joyce certainly helps with Castlemartyr’s confidence ahead of Sunday week.

“I think we would be quietly confident in ourselves,” Whyte admits. “I'm not sure who would be favourites, I think Ballygarvan might be, seeing as they were there last year and they have a bit more experience and that they have the game under their belt.

“But we have been quietly confident in ourselves, as you have to be. If you don't have a small bit of confidence in yourself you're only fighting your own battle.

“Hopefully we have enough, hopefully Ciarán comes back and everyone gets through injury free for the next few weeks, and we’ll have a right chance then.

“It's nice to play in an east Cork venue as well. It's been fixed for Cobh, so we're kind of half used to that pitch. The goal at the start of the year is always to get to Páirc Uí Rinn or Páirc Uí Chaoimh, wherever it’s on. So that’s what we’re aiming for.”