Ray Keane wants Aghabullogue to perform as they look to atone for final loss last year

They say you have to lose one before you win one, Ray Keane and Aghabullogue will hope that will be the case for them this weekend.

The Coachford-based side take on Muskerry rivals Iveleary in the McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC decider on Sunday at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (3.30pm).

The team in green and white lost out to Kilshannig after a replay in the final last season. To get back to that stage once again is no easy feat.

They have done so and now the task is to win a second county title in three seasons after winning the IAFC crown in 2023.

“I’ve often said it, the grades in Cork, they’re just so competitive,” Keane says, who is in his second campaign at the helm of Aghabullogue.

“Going into the last group game, in our particular grade, there were 10 out of the 12 teams or something like that who could have still qualified, which is frightening when you think about it like. It says a lot about the competitiveness of the teams.

“Somebody said to me during the week, the club was at this grade last year for the first time, so even to get to the final and be back there again now, it’s nice. But at the same time, you want to get over the line. 

“If we win, they’ll say it’s because we were in the final last year, if we lose, it will be something else. I don’t pay much attention to it really.

“I’m sure Iveleary are confident coming into this. We all have reasons why we think we’re going to win, and then there are areas we all have to work on, and that’s the beauty of it, it’s something different every day.

“I don’t particularly look backwards and say, right, we’re better here or we’re worse off there. It’s ultimately dealing with, as it happens on the day, and see where it takes you.” 

Both Aghabullogue and Iveleary were tipped at the very start of the year to go very deep into the championship. It’s no surprise that the Mid-Cork teams are meeting in the final. Two excellent sides with very little to separate them.

“You’ll have two footballing teams that will go at it,” the new Cork U20 football boss said.

“There’s a local derby element to it and I’m sure it’ll be a game people want to see. We feel we have improved as the year has progressed even if it has been a stop-start season and that’s the nature of the way the games were this year.

“This is probably the first time where we have had two weeks to prepare with the hurling final pushed out.” 

Aghabullogue will know themselves that they will have to play to their best against Iveleary.

“Our biggest thing is that we want to get a performance. If we get a performance, it’s a question of where that performance will carry us. God knows how many goals Iveleary have scored this year. 

"We haven’t conceded any goals in the championship, but again, have we met that quality of opposition from an attacking perspective? Ultimately, I suppose, if we concede six goals and we win by a point, I’ll be thrilled. If we concede no goals and we win by a point, I’ll be thrilled. I don’t really care how we win.

“When you get to this stage of the season, you’re looking back at February, when we returned to training, and you’re thinking of the mucky nights and stuff like that.

“It’s just simply all about winning because nobody will be talking about who lost the final. I’m sure if you go back to our final last year, everybody’s talking about Kilshannig because they won the game, and rightly so, they were the better team over the two days.

“We’ll be hoping we get a performance against Iveleary and see where it takes us.” the Éire Óg clubman concluded.