John Horgan on why St Finbarr's v Blackrock is a special rivalry

It’s so much different now than it used to be in days of old when the big three city clubs squared up to each other in front of huge crowds on the same site that now boasts one of the great GAA stadiums.

Attendance levels reached 30,000 plus when the Barrs, the Rockies and the Glen sorted out their difference in county finals that brought in supporters from far and near.

Those of us in the autumn of our lives fondly remember being crammed into the old Cork Athletic Grounds to view some of those players of yesteryear..

But reminiscing never gets us anywhere, yes we have our memories but life is much changed now.

However, when those big city clubs are in direct opposition there is still a great buzz about in those great hurling homes and there’s another instalment in the rivalry this weekend when the Barrs and the Rockies collide in the second game of the group stage of the competition with the winners almost certainly securing their place in the knockout stage of the PSHC.

Year in, year out those two great clubs are ranked highly in the list of title contenders and being there or thereabouts at the business end of the campaign.

The dominance of the city clubs is nowhere near like it used to be, the flagship competition on Leeside is a much changed landscape with the clubs from East Cork and the divisional unit from the barony making a huge presence.

Both the Barrs and the Rockies will have been aware how impressive Imokilly were last weekend in dismantling the challenge of Avondhu but more about that later.

The Church Road team and their Togher rivals got their business done with plenty of efficiency in their opening round victories over Kanturk and Douglas respectively and both will be striving to gain the southside bragging rights that are on offer and all but secure their place in the quarter-finals.

Irrespective of how this game pans out both are still going to be in pole position to do so, but no team wants to be going into their final group game needing the victory to progress, take the jeopardy out of that last outing.

The Barrs are still mindful of the loss they suffered to Fr O’Neill’s last season down in Midleton and will be fully aware of all the pitfalls that are contained in these four team groups with just the two two progressing.

They set out their stall out very early in their opener against Douglas and had the issue as good as signed, sealed and delivered by the interval.

There was much to admire about them in that emphatic victory with some outstanding individual returns from William Buckley, in particular, Ben Cunningham, Ethan Twomey, and Jack Cahalane among others.

Buckley’s point-taking that night in Páirc Ui Rinn was worth the admission fee alone and the Rockies management will have taken note.

The Rockies faced a potentially tricky assignment in their opener against Kanturk and they were given a fairly stern test before closing out to win by a couple of points.

It would have to be said that they were involved in a game that was much closer than what the Barrs encountered against Douglas and that must be of benefit However, on the evidence produced from those two opening games the Barrs are probably the slightest of fancies here, but these city derbies involving the big three are always difficult to predict.

From a neutral perspective, the hope is that these great rivals produce a contest in keeping with battles of long ago.

It could rightfully be stated that the six opening games in the PSHC did not capture the imagination to any great extent but when the Barrs face the Rockies you have to believe that the bar will be raised much higher.

DEABATED

Church Road housed the Imokilly-Avondhu clash last Saturday night but anyone hoping for a close enough game were sadly disappointed.

The presence of divisional and college teams in the competition continues to generate debate and some of these divisional sides are now well below the required mark.

There continues to be one exception and that’s Imokilly who always try to be the best version of themselves.

Their management teams down the years put in a big effort in the pre-season by arranging challenge games with clubs from outside the county and the co-operation from the clubs in the division has, for the most part, always been forthcoming.

Those who featured last Saturday night all have big club games this weekend but they were all available for selection.

As a contest, it never materialised and it could be said that Imokilly were never required to hit the full throttle button.

Twelve players contributed on the scoreboard, that’s some return by any standards with Jack Leahy, Mike Kelly, and Brian Lawton all dissecting the posts with aplomb.

And there was no Seamie Harnedy and Bill Cooper on the starting block and that again illustrated the depth of the squad that is at the disposal of Denis Ring.

Of course, it’s very early days yet, but in the fine Rockies complex, you got the feeling that this Imokilly bunch of players are not going to relinquish the crown that they won last season.

For now, though, they must have their house in order again for the final of the divisions/colleges section and it’s a repeat of last season’s final between themselves and Muskerry.

The Mid Cork side got their bit of business done against UCC at Riverstown last Sunday night in a game that did not reach any great heights either.

To be fair to Muskerry and team boss Diarmuid Kirwan, they prepare as best they can and they will certainly be hoping for a much better outcome than was the case 12 months ago when they got blitzed by the East Cork team.

UCC no longer contain the marquee names that were available to them in the past, club commitments in other counties impacting greatly on them.

But, to their great credit, they always try to compete as best they can and they always field in the most difficult of circumstances.

A return of 4-15 from Muskerry was a fine scoring return and in Matt Bradley from Aghabullogue and Colm O’Callaghan from Éire Óg they have two forwards who made a very significant contribution.

However, they will be under no illusions of the magnitude of the task that awaits them in the deciding game with Imokilly.

Their first priotity will be to try and be more competitive than was the case when the sides last met and if that comes to pass we might get a game that will be more interesting.

But right now it seems to be that no matter who comes out of the opposition dressing room they won’t have it easy against this Imokilly unit.

But Muskerry have done what’s required of them up to now and for that they deserve credit.