Ballinora looking to make history as they take on Grenagh in Muskerry Junior A HC final

The 2025 MJK Oils Muskerry Junior A Hurling Championship final takes place this weekend as Ballinora meet old foes Grenagh.

The decider is down for decision on Sunday in Coachford at 3.30pm.

It’s a repeat of the final of three years ago when Ballinora won on a scoreline of 0-16 to 0-11.

The team in red and green are going for a historic fifth divisional crown on the trot and they are favourites to do so.

A month ago, Don O’Brien’s charges were on the brink of being eliminated at the group stage, but won 2-17 to 0-11 against this weekend’s opposition to advance on scoring difference.

Ballinora might not be firing on all cylinders this year, but there’s a sense that they are coming good at the right time.

They backed up the stunning victory over Grenagh by hammering Inniscarra’s second team in the semi-final a fortnight ago, 1-25 to 2-8.

Daragh Holmes, James Keohane and Alan O’Shea will be influential up front for Ballinora.

Neil Lordan and Shane Kingston will take up the crucial defensive positions.

The sight of Grenagh in the decider isn’t a surprise one bit.

They have been the one team that have pushed Ballinora all the way in recent years.

Albeit they lost by 12 points in the group stage to Ballinora last month, there wasn’t a huge amount of jeopardy at stake.

Noel O’Brien’s team have lost to Ballinora at the semi-final hurdle in the last two seasons since reaching the divisional final in 2022.

Grenagh are aiming to win the title for the first time since 2013. That was a memorable year for them as they also won the county along with the IFC title.

Grenagh beat Donoughmore after extra-time in the semi-final a fortnight ago, 2-21 to 0-22. It took a late point from Grenagh’s top scorer Dan Twomey to send the game to extra-time.

He finished up with 0-14 (0-10 f, 0-1 65). Robert Coleman’s two goals also proved decisive.

Paul Barry-Murphy, Kelvin Cummins and John Lehane will be tasked with making sure Grenagh are more defensively sound than in their last outing against Ballinora.

The expectation is that it will be close. Ballinora’s strength in depth and experience of winning silverware has to be an advantage for them. They have a chance of making history. No team in the Muskerry JAHC has ever won five crowns on the bounce.

They get the nod to edge it.