West Cork kingpins will provide stern test of Boherbue’s title credentials

Boherbue v St James

THE Duhallow champions are as good as any team remaining in the hunt for outright honours yet an improvement will be sought from their opening round victory over Aghinagh. A lay-off from the divisional final didn’t help matters, Boherbue failed to fire on all cylinders.

Earlier Boherbue had continued their domination of the Duhallow JAFC after a deserved victory over Lyre. Simply Boherbue possessed a greater range to their game with a number of stand-out performances linked to superior teamwork to complete a hat trick of titles.

A relieved Boherbue put paid to Aghinagh’s hopes, the driving play of Kevin Cremin, Niall Murphy, Daniel Moynihan and Billy Gorman gave the Duhallow side an early edge with John Corkery in fine shooting form. But as the contest aged, Boherbue looked nervous but nothing came of a late Aghinagh charge seeking a match winning goal.

Meanwhile, St James breakthrough is something of a surprise, but when one delves a little closer, it becomes clear that the men from the mountain at Ardfield fully deserved a historic first time historic West Cork title.

On doing so, St James brought a new sense of identity to a marvellous campaign under the guidance of player manager Alan O’Shea, the Waterville native received man of the match in the West Cork decider. Far from a one man effort, St James have yet to concede a goal in six games played that includes an easy victory over a weakened Cobh in Round 1 to the county.

Boherbue have questions to answer and the likelihood is they are capable of providing the solutions to halt the St. James run. Far more experienced at this level, that’s gained over the past three seasons, expect a steadiness from Boherbue, good enough to reach a semi-final.

Boherbue