John Horgan on how Ballincollig returned to Cork's senior hurling ranks

IT'S that time of the year again, county and divisional finals galore in all competitions, defining days for so many clubs.

Things got underway here on Leeside with the Seandun JHC final on the Saturday and the two big finals in SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh the following day.

This column was present at all three and it was a fine weekend of hurling in the fine venue that is Ballinlough and in the big house down by the river.

Whitechurch maintained their dominance in the Seandun final against Na Piarsaigh in what was a thoroughly enjoyable game that wasn't decided until virtually the very last puck of the match.

It was one of those games that if it had gone to extra time there would not have been any dissenting voices.

But full credit to Whitechurch in what was essentially a local derby against a club trying so hard to put silverware back on the table in their wonderful complex in Farranree.

Luck certainly is not on their side in any grade over the last number of years, coming out on the wrong end of a penalty shootout twice at Senior A level and the bare minimum loss last Saturday.

The junior championship has been relegated down the pecking order of the grades but for the clubs and the players participating in it, a medal is still something to be fully cherished.

It ws 2-17 to 2-16 at the final whistle in Ballinlough, being honest it could have went either way but the glory belongs to Whitechurch again mainly because of the contributions of Jamie Hegarty with a haul of 13 points and crucial goals from Ronan Murphy and Cillian Egan.

It was a huge team effort, a squad effort over the hour and for a small club it was another day to savour.

There is something about the divisional junior grade that we still love going back the years, the honour and glory of the little village up against a bigger establishment a few miles away.

This was the third year on the trot that Whitechurch have collected the trophy, a fine achievement by any standards because it's difficult to do it just once.

That junior A championship means so much to the clubs who participate in it, the first team in many of them, not the second or third.

Those junior clubs only put in as much of an effort as the more high profile clubs do and Whitechurch are a prime example of that.

It's a similar story across the divisions, Dromina in North Cork, Diarmuid O'Mathuna's down west and so on.

One can be certain that if you happened to be in one of those places last Sunday night the celebrations would be as wild as they were in the Glen and in Ballincollig.

And it's the latter that we focus on next, the new Premier IHC winners after their terrific victory over Dungourney in the curtain-raiser at SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

And what a difference 12 months has made for them, despondent after losing last season's final to Ballinhasig they immediately reset, reinvented themselves to come back and travel the extra mile.

The old saying that you must lose one to win one does not always apply, rarely perhaps but it certainly did for Ballincollig, now a senior hurling club again.

And they did it in style, their second-half performance was much too strong for a Dungourney side who gave a fine account of themselves but ultimately lost out to a better unit.

Towns with large populations as Ballincollig is need to be competing at the highest possible level and in doing so that enhances the game across the county, it's good for for Cork hurling's health.

Of course, there's a great tradition of hurling in Ballincollig and this writer can go back to the 1963 county junior final when they defeated my own club Castlemartyr.

Losing one to win one applied back then as well, the following year Castlemartyr defeated Cloughduv in the final in the old Athletc Grounds on a very rainy Sunday by the Lee.

Ballincollig had many fine performers last Sunday, the Wills brothers, Stephen and Adam who secured some big scores over the hour between them, Adam's goal surely the game's defining moment.

James Dwyer led by example in defence, Theo Morgan and Cian O'Driscoll posted some great points while the introduction of Cork panelist, Brian Keating lifted the team hugely.

He was not on the field very long before he set up the goal and his presence to the last whistle was crucial.

His father Eamon was the side's manager in a strong management team that had Ronan Curran doing an excellent job of work as coach.

We must mention too Eamon Murphy from this parish who was a selector.

Both on and off the field the men from Mid Cork had a strong balance and they will be a welcome addition to Senior A ranks next season.

No grade of huling in Cork is a stroll in the park, in fact, all five grades are extremely difficult and none more so than this Premier intermediate grade.

At the outset of any season predicting who might end up with the trophy is a near impossible task, all 12 participants believing they are in with a shout, the field is as level as it gets.

In one group this season you had four East Cork teams trying to secure one of the first two places, Dungourney being one of them and being successful in emerging.

It's a cut-throat grade, physically and mentally it requires the maximum effort and immense credit to Ballincollig for being the last men standing.

They will now go forth into the Munster club arena with every chance of being successful in that too.

But for every club the first and foremost priority has to be their own county championship and what might follow is a bonus.

But where this Ballincollig team is concerned, Cork has worthy representatives going forward into that provincial arena.

The column inches were in the main given over to Glen Rovers and rightly so for their fully deserving win in the Premier senior grade But in the homes of all the winners of a divisional and county championship the win is everything, it shortens the long Winter months ahead and it's a huge boost for the younger generations.

But for now anyway on the county front it's been a week of joy in the Glen and Ballincollig and in the aftermath of the latter's victory one could only imagine what it meant to men like Aubert Twomey and Frank McCarthy among many others.

All GAA people like them could be described as people who soldier on through thick and thin and they are present in every club in this county and beyond.

Without them the GAA would be a far lesser organisation.

Next on the agenda tonight is the Premier junior championship final at headquarters, two very rural clubs, St Catherine's and Kilshannig seeking to reach their promised land, the Ballynoe men might be slightly fancied but for both clubs it's their time under the spotlight