{"id":184160,"date":"2025-12-10T04:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/184160\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T04:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T04:14:09","slug":"all-east-cork-group-is-one-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/184160\/","title":{"rendered":"All East Cork group is one to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"contextmenu internal_Body1st\">Last year\u2019s beaten finalists Ballincollig, who lost out to Ballinhassig in the Co-op Superstores PIHC decider, will be hoping it\u2019s their year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">And if they needed an incentive to get their campaign off to a winning start then who better to be drawn against than your near-neighbours Bishopstown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">This certainly won\u2019t be one that either side will want to lose, and it has the potential to be a top-class tie, with local bragging rights at stake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">They are joined in that group by \u00c9ire \u00d3g and Aghabullogue, another two sides not too far from each other, and yet another game neither one will want to lose to their near-neighbours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The luck of the draw sees last year\u2019s semi-finalists, Cloyne and Dungourney, drawn against each other in a group that is an East Cork battle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Along with the two of them the other sides in Group 2 are Castlemartyr and Lisgoold, and you can bet all those games will draw massive crowds and hopefully they will be kept in the area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">You would have to be a brave person to try and name the two that will emerge from that group, with two top-class sides going to exit the championship at a relatively early stage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">But the derby clashes continue with Carrigaline drawn against Valley Rovers in their opening tie, again another that local bragging rights will be very much at stake in.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/4892609_1_articleinline_DSC_8244_1_.jpeg\" alt=\"James McCarthy, Dungourney, on the ball in their Co-Op Superstores Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final clash with Ballincollig. His side lost out in the semi-final this season and will be one of the fancied sides in next year's championship. Picture: Larry Cummins\" title=\"James McCarthy, Dungourney, on the ball in their Co-Op Superstores Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final clash with Ballincollig. His side lost out in the semi-final this season and will be one of the fancied sides in next year's championship. Picture: Larry Cummins\" class=\"card-img\"\/>James McCarthy, Dungourney, on the ball in their Co-Op Superstores Premier Intermediate Hurling Championship semi-final clash with Ballincollig. His side lost out in the semi-final this season and will be one of the fancied sides in next year&#8217;s championship. Picture: Larry Cummins<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It should be a top-class opening round to this championship, and all sides be fancying their chances of getting off to a winning start.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            The groups are: Group 1: Bishopstown, Ballincollig, \u00c9ire \u00d3g, and Aghabullogue.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            Group 2: Dungourney, Cloyne, Castlemartyr, and Lisgoold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            Group 3: Carrigaline, Valley Rovers, Kilworth, and Ballymartle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            Opening round fixtures: Bishopstown v Ballincollig; \u00c9ire \u00d3g v Aghabullogue; Dungourney v Cloyne; Castlemartyr v Lisgoold; Carrigaline v Valley Rovers; Kilworth v Ballymartle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">In the IAHC last year\u2019s beaten finalists, Bandon, will face Aghada in their opening round tie, who lost out at semi-final stage last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Having lost out to Aghabullogue in last season\u2019s final they will hope it\u2019s their year but know that\u2019s easier said than done.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">The other semi-finalists were Sarsfields, and they take on near-neighbours Erin\u2019s Own in their opening tie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Another East Cork derby clash, and there won\u2019t be too much love lost between these two sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Kilbrittain, who have an All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday week, and were promoted to this level, will face Russell Rovers in the opening round.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">For now, Kiilbrittain\u2019s concentration will be on Saturday week, but it won\u2019t be too long before they turn their attentions to Russell Rovers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">Mallow, who were relegated to this grade, will take on Midleton in their first tie, as they look to bounce back up at the first attempt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            The groups are: Group 1: Aghada, Bandon, Kilbrittain, and Russell Rovers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            Group 2: Midleton, Mallow, Kildorrery, and Blackrock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            Group 3: Erin\u2019s Own, Sarsfields, Youghal, and Ballygiblin.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu Body Body\">\n            Opening round fixtures: Aghada v Bandon; Kilbrittain v Russell Rovers; Midleton v Mallow; Kildorrery v Blackrock; Erin\u2019s Own v Sarsfields; Youghal v Ballygiblin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year\u2019s beaten finalists Ballincollig, who lost out to Ballinhassig in the Co-op Superstores PIHC decider, will be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-184160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}