Carrig on the brink
(JJ Hurley)
Eanna Desmond (Carrigaline) attempting a score as Douglas’s Colm McPhaidin looks on in the McCarthy Insurance Group SFC at the weekend. (Bernard Laverty)
Less than a couple of years ago, Carrigaline footballers left Blarney a dejected unit after falling to Mallow in a dreaded relegation shootout.
For some clubs, it becomes a never‑ending trapdoor as they slip down the ranking of the county’s championship.
Would anyone have blamed Michael Meeney if he walked? A lesser man might.
For a man who wears Carrig on his sleeve, it wasn’t an option. The arrival of one Brian O’Driscoll was a huge piece of the missing jigsaw.
Can we ever forget that year of redemption? For many, the heroics of Ryan Delaney in that penalty shootout in Páirc Uí Rinn will never be forgotten.
Last year was about consolidation, another step on the road, as the Owenabue boys turned over one of the aristocrats of Cork football: Clonakilty.
With O’Driscoll on sabbatical, often running the show in his beloved Rebel colours, everyone was looking forward to the championship.
A decent league campaign followed, and then everyone was blindsided — Darragh gone way too early.
Something like that knocks a community for six, and would anyone have blamed the players if this year had simply been written off?
I don’t think that was ever going to happen, and on Sunday, when Carrig easily saw off Douglas, it was game on. County semi‑final, here we come.
As an outsider, I only see the regular faces I know — John Roberts, Bernie O’Mahony, the Reillys, and loads more too, not forgetting their adopted son Bernard Laverty.
That’s what makes a great club for me: more like family, and there’s always a welcome.
To be honest, as someone who regularly visits all the clubs in the division, the welcome is always extended equally from all of them.
And no doubt, when Carrig cross that line to face either Newcestown or Clonakilty in the county semi‑final, old rivalries in the division will be forgotten as a neighbour’s child bids for glory.
Of course, it is a huge ask. It’s not every day you get to play in the final shakedown of the premier competition in the county.
What have they to lose? Nothing.
And one thing is certain: no matter what the result, these lads will leave it all on the pitch.
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