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Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Muskerry's near escape reaffirms need for Cork championship change
After two false starts on the football side, and a brief, 11th hour panic in the hurling corner of the house, the 2025 Cork county championship will throw in this Tuesday evening. In the round-robin section of the Cork PSHC colleges/divisions bracket, Avondhu and Carbery meet at Ballinlough (7.30pm), while Duhallow and Muskerry clash at Coachford (7.30pm). The latter clash, as of Monday midday, was in jeopardy of following the same walkover path as the two opening round colleges/divisions football games that never were last week. Similar to Beara and Avondhu withdrawing from the Cork football championship because of insufficient playing personnel, Muskerry were in danger of having to forfeit their hurling championship opener against Duhallow when the division was informed that players from one of its largest feeder clubs would not be available for Tuesday's game. The word from the mid-Cork division on Monday evening was that a number of other clubs rallied in support by furnishing additional players to ensure a team would be fielded and a walkover avoided. A week after Beara also found itself in direct conflict with feeder clubs refusing to make players available, this latest episode, even if the match will go ahead, highlights how the June scheduling of the colleges/divisions section is not conducive to divisions putting their strongest foot forward. April has been floated as a more workable start for divisional involvement given its remove from the Leaving Cert and the start of the county championship proper. What has been reaffirmed by Muskerry's near escape is the requirement for change. The respective winners of this evening's two games will face the loser from the other tie in Round 2. At the end of the three rounds, the top-ranked side will advance to play reigning county champions Imokilly in one semi-final and the second-placed team meeting UCC in the other semi-final.
Irish Examiner
5 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Solution needed to resolve Cork club football farce
Beara reached last year's Cork U21A football final. The division last won this particular championship 18 years previous. That gap was not bridged last December. It didn't matter. Their getting there was evidence enough of this coming crop from Cork's most westerly and most remote division. The same crop won a Premier Minor county title in 2021 and backed it up a year later with Premier U19 honours. Beara back on the map. Yesterday, Beara were back in the news. The division was forced, 24 hours before throw-in, to concede their Cork Premier SFC fixture against Duhallow because of insufficient playing numbers. Having not fielded a team for either the 2023 or '24 editions of the Cork football championship, today's game in the colleges/divisions section was to be their comeback. That comeback is now on hold for another 12 months. Numbers are tight in the division, but numbers are not the issue, as evidenced by the aforementioned underage success. Avondhu pulled the plug last week. Numbers are in no way tight in Avondhu and numbers were certainly not the root cause of their withdrawal either. The players are there. The problem is the clubs and the calendar. There are six clubs in Beara. Only two were making their players available for today's now cancelled fixture. Of the other four, two had their own League and championship games this week that took priority and exclusive focus. Then there's the Leaving Cert. Then there's lads taking holidays in the month of June because the county championship is in full flow from late next month until whenever your respective club exits or enjoys silverware. It has been suggested to the Cork executive to play the colleges/divisions section of the Cork football and hurling championships much earlier than June so as to avoid the above issues. The suggestion fell on deaf ears. In his annual report last year, Cork GAA CEO Kevin O'Donovan described as 'shambolic' the late withdrawals by divisional teams long after draws were made and fixtures ratified. O'Donovan was referencing the four divisions - Duhallow, Muskerry (both hurling), Imokilly and Beara (both football) - that handed walkovers to their respective opponents this time last year. Despite stating that such 11th hour withdrawals require 'immediate attention', here we are again. Beara and Avondhu failing to field mean neither of the scheduled first-round games - Avondhu v Carbery and Beara v Duhallow - will now take place. MTU did not enter this year's championship, the third year in succession they have opted out. Of eight divisions and two colleges, only four will put out a team in this year's county football championship. Either find a suitable home in the calendar for the colleges/divisions section that won't have teams handing walkovers one day before throw-in or scrap their involvement altogether. To maintain the current farce serves no one.
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Examiner
Beara forced to concede Cork PSFC colleges/divisions fixture against Duhallow
Beara have been forced to concede their Cork Premier Senior Football Championship colleges/divisions fixture against Duhallow on Thursday evening because of insufficient playing numbers. The Beara division were returning to the county championship for the first time since 2022 and were confident of being able to field tomorrow. But late player withdrawals, owing to club fixtures in the days either side of Thursday's game, has forced the division to pull the plug and hand Duhallow a walkover. Feeder clubs Urhan are playing county league against Inniscarra this evening, Wednesday, while Glengarriff have a County Junior B quarter-final against Ballyphehane on Sunday. Beara's withdrawal follows that of Avondhu last week meaning neither of the scheduled first-round games - Avondhu v Carbery and Beara v Duhallow - will now take place. Avondhu and Beara's 11th hour withdrawals follows that of Imokilly and Beara this time last year. MTU did not enter this year's championship, the third year in succession they have opted out. The spate of withdrawals once again raises questions over the viability of the colleges/divisions section of the county championship and where in the calendar it should be placed to ensure maximum participation. Both Carbery and Duhallow, courtesy of their respective walkovers, now advance to the second phase of the colleges/divisions section where they will meet UCC and Muskerry.
