Cork Premier Senior Football: Who are the teams to beat as St Finbarr's defend their crown?

While national attention next weekend may be on the All-Ireland football final at Croke Park between Kerry and Mayo, Cork GAA fans' focus will be on the local scene, as the club football championships get underway on Leeside.

Ballinhassig may not be a destination you would immediately associate with football but it is here that the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier Senior Football championship throws in, with the meeting of county kingpins St Finbarr’s and Carrigaline on Friday.

The two clubs faced off last year in what was a group decider and the Barrs ended up winning extremely comfortably, 2-23 to 0-10. Steven Sherlock put on an exhibition as he clipped 1-14. 

The Barrs will certainly start as favourites, but we can expect it to be much closer this time. The Barrs' preparations have been boosted by the fact that the Cork hurlers were eliminated at the semi-final stage, giving Brian Hayes and William Buckley the chance to prepare.

Arguably, the most interesting ties take place on Saturday, Knocknagree’s clash with Clonakilty and Newcestown’s meeting with Nemo Rangers are extremely difficult to call.

Newcestown surprised everyone last year by topping a group that included Castlehaven and Mallow. They were only denied by Nemo Rangers by the bare minimum after extra time in the semi-final.

David Buckley was their main man last year and we can expect more of the same in this campaign.  He has been tipped for a number of years to step up to inter-county level and this year he did. 

He did not feature in the quarter-final defeat to Mayo, which was odd but he had been injured, but landed 0-3 in the win over Meath, including a wonderful two-pointer to kickstart the Rebel comeback. He really needs to be trusted by Cork from here.

We get a repeat of last year’s last four meeting in and it would be no surprise if there was only a kick of the ball between the sides once more. They clashed in the league a month ago at Trabeg with Nemo winning by 0-13 to 0-9 to ensure they retained their top-flight status for next year. 

The likes of Mark Cronin and Buckley were absent that evening and it was noticeable that Nemo spread the scoring with eight individual scorers while Newcestown only had two, with the impressive Seamus O’Sullivan landing seven points and Richard O’Sullivan slotting two.

Knocknagree may have lost the Division 1 decider a few weeks ago to Castlehaven thanks to Brian Hurley’s late goal but will have been encouraged by their display. They landed 1-23 and they have plenty of O’Connors and McSweeneys who are all capable of putting big scores up against anyone.

TIGHT

Clonakilty were disappointed with their performance in the championship a year ago, requiring a big win over Carbery Rangers to avoid being pulled into the relegation equation. They will see themselves as genuine contenders for the Andy Scannell Cup but will have to prove that.

You imagine that whoever wins this tie could end up going far. The loser, probably will not. 

Therefore, it is a huge game for both and particularly so given they are in the Group of Death with Castlehaven and Ballincollig.

The other game on Saturday sees Mallow face Douglas at Grenagh. Both clubs limped out of the championship last year by finishing third in their respective groups. 

They will undoubtedly be eyeing each other as a beatable side that can act as a springboard for their campaign. Losing will hurt as both know that they have to face the Barrs, so a defeat probably makes advancement to the knockout stage unlikely.

The weekend ends with the intriguing clash of Castlehaven and Ballincollig at Clonakilty, 7.15pm on Sunday due to the shenanigans in Croke Park, while St Michael's and Valley Rovers takes place at the same time in Shanbally.

The Haven have the Division 1 title safely tucked away already and they will fancy their chances of regaining the title they won in 2023 and 2024. 

They have a nice blend of youth and experience and they certainly need the rookies to start doing their fair share of the heavy lifting as Brian Hurley and Mark Collins cannot do it forever.