Local rivals Boherbue and Dromtarriffe lock horns once more

Boherbue could probably have done without that brief period where beaten divisional finalists progressed to the county JAFC along with the sides that had won the regional silverware.

In 2017, the club won the Duhallow junior championship for the first time in 29 years. While they did come through the first county game, defeat to Uibh Laoire ended their campaign at the quarter-stage while the divisional runners-up Knocknagree managed to go all the way. You might be familiar with their further scent since then.

A year later, a titanic battle with Dromtarriffe in the Duhallow final ended 2-14 apiece; the replay was not a classic but that mattered little to Boherbue as they claimed victory by 0-7 to 0-6.

However, once again they were unable to get past the county quarter-final, losing to Kilmacabea, while Dromtarriffe were able to reset and regroup and they were celebrating come the end of October as they beat the Leap club in the decider.

In 2019, Boherbue made it a hat-trick in the north-west, beating Lyre in the final, but the ‘threepeat’ did not materialise in the county championship; however, there was another quarter-final exit for Boherbue.

They continued to rule the roost at home – in 2020, the first year of the new county championship format, the JAFC reverted to only allowing divisional winners and Boherbue, having overcome Cullen, made it to the final – delayed until the summer of 2021 – but lost to a talented Uibh Laoire side that would be celebrating IAFC glory glory just three months later.

And Boherbue would get to enjoy the winter too as, after another Duhallow final win over Cullen, they managed to go all the way, seeing off Ballinhassig in the final.

It was not a huge surprise that they had few teething problems at intermediate level as they reached the semi-finals at the first time of asking, losing to Aghabullogue, though 2023 would bring another quarter-final defeat – and at the hands of a familiar foe.

At the end of the group stages, the draw pitted them against Dromtarriffe and in Kanturk a second-half goal from Evan Murphy swung the game the way of the side in red and white, who triumphed on a 1-10 to 0-9 scoreline.

Displaying the even nature of the grade, the following year Dromtarriffe would fail to make it out of their group while Boherbue would reach the final, losing to Glanmire by just a point. Then, in 2025, neither of the Duhallow pair qualified for the knockouts.

This time around, Dromtarriffe topped their group while Boherbue finished as runners-up to a strong Adrigole side and, like 2023, the seedings have fallen in such a way that the quarter-finals again feature a Duhallow derby.

Ballydesmond is the venue on this occasion, with the sides going head to head on Friday night with a 7.30pm throw-in time. History has shown that there will be little in it; the winners will hope that the impetus of a derby triumph can push them on to further heights.