Cork GAA fans parked their pain as club action got off to a flier

The pain from losing the All-Ireland hurling final is still very raw, but Cork GAA collectively began their recovery at the weekend with the sight of the club football championships throwing in all over the county.

The PTSD from the second-half collapse is not going to go away anytime soon, but it was good to see some of the hurling panel already back on the pitch in football action for their clubs. 

The likes of Brian Hayes, William Buckley and Ethan Twomey were crucial in the Barrs' one-point victory over Clonakilty in Bandon, while Jack Cahalane bagged a crucial goal in Castlehaven’s four-point win over Mallow in Ovens, as his brother Damien also played a key role in the Haven spine.

Getting straight back into action with the clubs will have done wonders for players and supporters alike.

It is very early days in the club championship campaign but already we have witnessed a number of eye-catching displays which will have been of interest to anyone looking to see how the Cork footballers can strengthen next year.

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We had the much-publicised 18-point showing from Steven Sherlock in the Insurance Group Division 1 Football League final triumph over Clonakilty in early July. If Cork are going to make the necessary strides forward to being competitive again at national level in the coming years then the Barrs talisman must be involved; his firepower is a rare commodity.

He was kept more in check by Clon on Saturday night, as Maurice Shanley tracked him brilliantly to limit him to just one from play and six in total, but the Barrs still just about had too much for their West Cork rivals. William Buckley clipped over three impressive points from play while a long ball into Brian Hayes led to Conor Dennehy’s crucial first-half goal, as the returning hurlers made their presence felt.

David Buckley rifled over four two-pointers in Newcestown’s six-point win over Valley Rovers in Kilmurry, as Newcestown hinted that they could well be a dark horse in this year’s Premier Senior Championship. Their key marksman ended the game with 12 points, to demonstrate, again, that there are plenty of natural scoring forwards in Cork who probably should be more central to the inter-county set-up.

Conor Corbett has had a write-off of a year from a Cork perspective due to injury, but he’s back firing for his club Clyda Rovers now, which is wonderful to see. His 1-4 from play inspired the Mourneabbey men to a 3-11 to 1-11 win over Fermoy on Saturday.

With the new rules suiting natural point-scoring forwards, the county of Cork is crying out for attacking talent to put their hands up and show us where the future lies. 

Corbett and Buckley certainly fit the bill in that respect, and others showed their potential too at the weekend.

Clon’s Darragh Gough and Conor Daly scored 0-4 and 1-1 against the Barrs but needed bigger numbers to get the job done.

On Friday night, Bryan Hayes bagged an impressive haul of 1-3 to help Nemo Rangers reel in Ballincollig in Ballygarvan, after being five down at the break. Robbie O’Dwyer’s side were grateful Ballincollig had only taken one of their four goal-scoring opportunities. Cork goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin certainly can be thanked for making two superb saves early on.

Eanna O’Hanlon and Hugh O’Connor top-scored for their clubs at the weekend as Kilshannig saw off Newmarket in their intriguing Senior A clash. Both were on the fringes of the Cork team this year and both will certainly be looking to kick on in 2026.

It was also great to see the likes of Paudie Kissane and Pearse O’Neill togging out for Clyda Rovers and Aghada in their Senior A and Premier Intermediate clashes with Fermoy and Nemo at the weekend. 

Donnacha O’Connor also still looked the part for Duhallow in their win over Muskerry two weeks ago. This time he fired 0-17 for Ballydesmond in their draw with St Nicks, including four two-pointers.

We will not have that playing link back to Cork’s last All-Ireland success in 2010 for too much longer, so each of these appearances should be appreciated.