Cork Hurling: Senior A grade looks wide open as Bride beaten and Blarney gather momentum

The Senior A Hurling Championship may be the second tier of Cork club hurling but in many respects, it can be the most interesting grade in the county.

The lack of consistency of some of the main contenders ensures the championship is completely up for grabs as it heads into the knockout stages.

Blarney were many people’s tip to win it out at the start of the campaign, but when Bride Rovers impressively clipped their wings in the opening round, they took up the mantle of being favourites. Bride were surprisingly beaten at the weekend by Watergrasshill to ensure that only Castlelyons and Carrigtwohill ended the group stages undefeated.

Those two sides can now put the feet up and watch Blarney, Na Piarsaigh, Bride Rovers and Inniscarra fighting it out for the honour of joining them in the last four. 

It is very difficult to pick a winner, although Carrigtwohill’s positive points difference of +29 from their three games has ensured that the favourite spotlight now probably rests on them.

Watergrasshill will be gutted that the groups are not decided on a head-to-head basis, as their shock victory over Bride would have seen them qualify for the knockout stages at the expense of their neighbours had that been the case, although obviously the Bride Rovers' effort might have been very different if they knew they needed a result to qualify.

The defeat was not part of the plan as Rovers would have been earmarking the automatic semi-final slot they could have earned with a victory. They now face off against a dangerous Inniscarra side who pushed Castlelyons all the way at the weekend, and they will have to do so off the back of a heavy and potentially damaging defeat.

Na Piarsaigh, on the other hand, will have been delighted at the lack of a head-to-head rule, as their hard-fought win over Fermoy saw them qualify over Fermoy and Killeagh on points difference, as they qualify after just one win. 

Watergrasshill are eliminated after two victories. Killeagh had beaten the northside club in the opening round and had looked extremely slick that night, but the wheels came off for them in rounds 2 and 3, with them well beaten by both Fermoy and Carrigtwohill.

If results had gone against them, Na Piarsaigh could have found themselves in the relegation play-off had they lost, yet they now find themselves looking forward to a quarter-final clash with Blarney.

Courcey Rovers were beaten finalists at this grade as recently as 2022, when they were just two points short of Fr O’Neill’s in that year’s final. In that same year, Bishopstown were beating Na Piarsaigh and drawing with Erin’s Own to maintain their status up in the Premier Senior grade. They now must face each other in the dreaded play-off final.

This illustrates just how quickly a club’s fortunes can fluctuate in the top tiers of Cork club hurling and especially so since the current grading structure was introduced, as there is so little margin for error. Lose your opening round tie and before you can catch your breath, you can find yourself in a scrap for survival.

STANDOUT

Up in the Premier Senior grade, the standout game in terms of qualification for the business end was the meeting of St. Finbarr’s and Kanturk at Mourneabbey, as it was essentially a straight knockout game with the winner guaranteed a quarter-final berth.

It did not disappoint with it being nip and tuck until the trio of Ethan Twomey, Ben Cunningham and William Buckley got a handle on matters in the final quarter to propel the Barrs to victory. 

Credit too for the second-half displays of Billy Hennessy and Damian Cahalane for the manner in which they steadied matters at the back after Alan Walsh had given Kanturk the half-time lead with a goal just before the short whistle. 

They now face off against county champions Imokilly in an intriguing-looking quarter-final clash.

The real drama was down in Killeagh, however, with Fr. O’Neill’s coming from three goals down to send Erin’s Own into the dreaded relegation play-off. The loser was destined to be in that fixture and the two East Cork sides fought tooth and nail to avoid slipping into it. Ultimately, it took a last-gasp save from Robbie O’Flynn’s late goal attempt from a free to guarantee Fr O’Neill’s Premier Senior status for 2026.

Erin’s Own now meet Newtownshandrum in a straight shootout to stay up. The 2007 county final between the two clubs will feel like a lifetime ago in the build-up to that one​.