Douglas appoint Fergus Ryan as hurling coach

Douglas have appointed Fergus Ryan as coach of their senior hurling team for the coming season.

The Mallow native acted as a selector under Denis Ring on the Cork minor team that reached the All-Ireland final in 2017 and later in the U20 set-up with Ring as well as filling a variety of roles in Mallow. He will join a set-up that includes Dave Larkin, Henry Grimes and Gearóid Reddington.

Last year, former Cork goalkeeper Martin Coleman served as the city side’s coach. Having lost to Sarsfields and then beaten Bishopstown in their Co-op SuperStores Premier SHC group, Douglas were beaten in a winner-take-all clash by Newtownshandrum in the last round of fixtures.

Prior to 2024, each of the four seasons since the introduction of the new championship format had seen Douglas beaten at the county quarter-final stage, to Blackrock (2020 and 2021), St Finbarr’s (2023) and Imokilly (2024).

The draw for this year’s championship has pitted them with Blackrock, Kanturk and St Finbarr’s. It is Kanturk who will provide Douglas’s opposition in the opening round of Division 1 of the RedFM Hurling League on Sunday, March 9.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Cork’s home games in the Electric Ireland Munster Minor Championships will take place at Páirc Uí Rinn.

Delegates at Tuesday’s monthly county board meeting at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh – which has hosted such games since its opening, albeit with a few enforced exceptions – were told of the change, which will affect at least three fixtures.

In the Munster MHC, Fergal McCormack’s Cork side are due to host Waterford on Friday, April 25 before taking on Tipperary on Leeside a week later, May 2. At the end of the hurling round-robin, the top two counties progress to the provincial decider, which takes place at a neutral venue. The sides in third and fourth progress to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals.

In football, Cork – managed by Keith Ricken – will play host to Kerry in a quarter-final tie on Monday, May 5. The winners of that fixture will then play a semi-final against the side finishing second in phase 1 of the competition, which comprises Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford.

The winners of that section will play the losers of the Cork-Kerry tie in the semi-finals. Should Cork and Kerry meet again in the Munster final, home advantage would be with the Kingdom.

Inter-county U20 games will continue to be played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Noel Furlong’s U20 side have home games against Tipp on Wednesday, April 2 and Waterford four weeks later. The U20 differs slightly from the minor in that the teams in fourth and fifth after the round-robin are eliminated and there is a provincial semi-final – second place at home to third, with the winners advancing to meet the table-toppers in the decider.

The Ray O’Mahony-managed U20 football team have three guaranteed games in a league system with Kerry and the two counties emerging from phase one. Cork are away to the runners-up of that section on Tuesday, April 1 and to Kerry on Tuesday, April 8 before hosting the phase one winners on April 15.

The final, between the top two teams in the table, takes place a fortnight later.