2020 Cork Senior A Football Championship

2020 Cork Senior A Football Championship
Dates	24 July 2020 – 19 June 2021
Teams	12
Sponsor	Bon Secours Hospital
Champions	Éire Óg (1st title); Daniel Goulding (captain); Harry O'Reilly (manager)
Runners-up	Mallow; Eoin Stanton (captain); Keith Moynihan (manager)
Relegated	St. Nicholas'
Tournament statistics
Matches played	24
Goals scored	57 (2.38 per match)
Points scored	523 (21.79 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Daniel Goulding (2-34)
	(Next) 2021 →

The 2020 Cork Senior A Football Championship was the inaugural staging of the Cork Senior A Football Championship since its establishment by the Cork County Board. The draw for the group stage placings took place on 19 November 2019.^[1] The championship was scheduled to begin in April 2020, however, it was postponed indefinitely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games.^[2] The championship eventually began on 24 July 2020 and, after being suspended once again on 5 October 2020, eventually concluded on 19 June 2021.^[3]^[4]^[5]

The final was played on 19 June 2021 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, between Éire Óg and Mallow, in what was their second meeting in that year's championship but their first meeting in a final in any grade. Éire Óg won the match by 2-13 to 1-07 to claim their first championship title and their second successive promotion.^[6]

Éire Óg's Daniel Goulding was the championship's top scorer with 2-34.

Overview

Format

On 26 March 2019, three championship proposals were circulated to Cork club delegates after an expensive review process of the entire Cork championship system. A core element running through all three proposals, put together by the Cork GAA games workgroup, was that there be a group stage of 12 teams, as well as straight relegation and promotion.^[7] On 2 April 2019, a majority of 136 club delegates voted for Option A which provided for one round of games played in April and two more in August – all with inter-county players available.^[8]

Participating teams

Team	Location	Colours
Bandon	Bandon	Yellow and white
Bantry Blues	Bantry	Blue and white
Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	Ballingeary	Black and red
Clyda Rovers	Mourne Abbey	Black and yellow
Dohenys	Dunmanway	Green and white
Éire Óg	Oven	Red and yellow
Fermoy	Fermoy	Black and yellow
Kiskeam	Kiskeam	Black and white
Mallow	Mallow	Red and yellow
O'Donovan Rossa	Skibbereen	Red and white
St Michael's	Blackrock	Green and yellow
St. Nicholas'	Blackpool	Black and white

Group A

Table

Advance to play-offs Advance to relegation play-offs

Team	Matches				Score			Pts
Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Diff
O'Donovan Rossa	3	3	0	0	7-52	5-27	31	6
St Michael's	3	2	0	1	8-43	4-32	23	4
Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	3	1	0	2	2-39	4-46	-13	2
St. Nicholas'	3	0	0	3	3-23	7-52	-41	0

Results

25 July 2020 Round 1	O'Donovan Rossa	4-22 - 1-05	St. Nicholas'	Brinny Sportsfield
	K Davis 1-8 (0-1f, 0-1 ‘mark’); D Óg Hodnett 2-1; D Shannon 0-5 (0-1 ‘mark’; 0-1 ‘45’); E Connolly 0-3; D Hourihane 1-1; T Hegarty, S Fitzgerald, D Daly, R Byrne 0-1 each.	Report	D Brosnan 1-2 (0-1f, 0-1 ‘mark); L Coughlan 0-2; A Lynch 0-1.	Referee: E Sheehy (Newcestown)

25 July 2020 Round 1	St Michael's	3-16 - 0-14	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	Ovens
	E Buckley 1-4, A Hennessy 0-3, D Lenihan, K Hegarty 1-0 each, T Deasy 0-3 (0-1 f), L Grainger 0-2, A O'Connell, T Lenihan, E Hegarty, D Meaney 0-1 each.	Report	D Mac Thomáis 0-5, B Searten 0-4 (0-3 f), C Ó Loingsigh 0-2 (0-1 45), D Searten 0-2, M Ó Riordáin 0-1.	Referee: M Collins (Clonakilty)

15 August 2020 Round 2	O'Donovan Rossa	0-17 - 1-10	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	Randal Óg Park
	D Hourihane (0-6, 4 frees); D Óg Hodnett and D Shannon (1 mark, 1 45) (0-4 each); R Byrne (0-2); E Fitzgerald (0-1).	Report	B Searten (1-4); D Mac Tomáis (0-6, 2 frees).	Referee: T Hayes (Éire Óg)

16 August 2020 Round 2	St. Nicholas'	1-05 - 2-15	St Michael's	Caherlag Sportsfield
	S Kennefick (1-1), D Brosnan (0-3 frees), A Lynch (0-1).	Report	L Grainger (1-1), L O’Sullivan (1-0), E Buckley (0-3), L Grainger, K Hegarty, A O’Connell (1 free), E O’Donovan (0-2 each), E Hegarty, M O’Keeffe, D Meaney (0-1 each).	Referee: J Murphy (Castletownroche)

6 September 2020 Round 3	O'Donovan Rossa	3-13 - 3-12	St Michael's	St. Mary's Park
	D Shannon (1-2, 1f), K Davis (0-5, 2f), T Hegarty and D Daly (1-0 each), D Hourihane (0-2), E Connolly, D Óg Hodnett, S Fitzgerald, R Byrne 0-1 each.	Report	T Deasy (0-5, 1f), E Hegarty (1-1), A O’Connell and A Hennessy (1-0 each), D MEaney, E Buckley, L Grainger, K Hegarty, T Lenihan and L O’Sullivan (0-1 each).

6 September 2020 Round 3	St. Nicholas'	1-13 - 1-15	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	Carrigadrohid
	S Kennefick 1- 2, D Brosnan (1f), D Brosnan (1f), A Lynch, L Coughlan 0-2 each, J Morrissey, A Hosford, K McCarthy Goade 0-1.	Report	D Mac Tomáis 0-6, C Ó Loingsigh 0-3, S Ó Tuama 1-0, D Seartan 0-3, B Seartan 0-2, M Ó Riordáin 0-1.

Group B

Table

Advance to play-offs Advance to relegation play-offs

Team	Matches				Score			Pts
Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Diff
Mallow	3	2	0	1	3-36	3-28	8	4
Éire Óg	3	2	0	1	2-33	1-31	5	4
Kiskeam	3	2	0	1	4-29	3-34	-2	4
Bantry Blues	3	0	0	3	1-27	3-32	-11	0

Results

25 July 2020 Round 1	Éire Óg	0-13 - 0-07	Bantry Blues	Ballingeary
	D Goulding (0-5 f, 0-1 sl, 0-1 45) 0-8, C O’Callaghan 0-2, B Hurley, E O’Shea, L Sheehan 0-1 each.	Report	T Foley 0-3 f, A Coakley 0-2, S O’Leary, J Casey 0-1 each.

25 July 2020 Round 1	Kiskeam	2-11 - 1-11	Mallow	Kanturk
	T O’Sullivan (1-3, 0-1 free), S O’Sullivan (0-4), G Casey (1-0), T Casey (0-2, 0-1 free), A Carroll and M Herlihy (0-1 each).	Report	E Kelleher (1-1), K Sheehan (0-4, 0-1 free), R Harkin (0-2), K O’Sullivan, M Taylor, S McDonnell and E Stanton (0-1 each).

15 August 2020 Round 2	Mallow	0-14 - 0-07	Éire Óg	Mourne Abbey
	C O’Riordan (0-4, 0-1 free), M O’Rourke (0-2 frees) and K Sheehan (0-3 each), S McDonnell, J Dillon, K O’Sullivan and D Moynihan (0-1 each).	Report	D Goulding (0-4, 0-3 frees), D O’Herlihy, C O’Callaghan and B Hurley (0-1 each).	Referee: M Collins (Clonakilty)

15 August 2020 Round 2	Kiskeam	1-08 - 0-10	Bantry Blues	Clondrohid
	S O’Sullivan (0-4, 0-1 free), G Casey (1-0), T O’Sullivan (0-3, 0-1 frees), A Carroll (0-1).	Report	R Deane (0-4, frees), A Coakley (0-4, 0-1 free), S McSweeney and S Coughlan (0-1 each).

6 September 2020 Round 3	Kiskeam	1-10 - 2-13	Éire Óg	O'Connell Park
	S Meehan (1-1), S O’Sullivan 0-3f, T O’Sullivan 0-3(0-2f), G Casey (0-2), S Scannell (0-1).	Report	D Goulding 2-7(0-1f), J Cooper (0-3), C O’Callaghan (0-2), B Hurley 0-1.

6 September 2020 Round 3	Mallow	2-11 - 1-10	Bantry Blues	Castle Grounds
	C O’Riordan 1-5 (0-3f, 1.sl); E Kelleher 1-0; J Loughrey, M Taylor, E Stanton, K O’Sullivan, J Dillon, P Herlihy 0-1 each.	Report	R Deane 1-5 (0-3f); S McSweeney 0-3; A Coakley 0-2 (0-1f).

Group C

Table

Advance to play-offs

Team	Matches				Score			Pts
Team	Pld	W	D	L	For	Against	Diff
Fermoy	3	2	0	1	5-34	4-28	9	4
Bandon	3	1	1	1	3-35	2-31	7	3
Clyda Rovers	3	1	1	1	2-24	4-26	-8	3
Dohenys	3	0	2	1	1-30	1-38	-8	2

Results

24 July 2020 Round 1	Clyda Rovers	0-06 - 1-12	Bandon	Ballyanley Sportsfield
	C Corbett (2 fs)(0-3); C Flanagan, P Cronin, C O’Sullivan (0-1 each).	Report	M Sugrue (4 fs)(0-7); M O’Regan (1-2); R Crowley (0-2); R O’Driscoll (0-1).

26 July 2020 Round 1	Dohenys	0-10 - 1-15	Fermoy	Coachford
	M Buckley 0-5 (0-4 f), F Herlihy 0-2, J Kelly, C Barry (f), K White 0-1 each.	Report	K Morrisson 1-0, M Brennan 0-4, R O'Hagan (0-2 f), P De Roiste, B O'Sullivan 0-3 each, L Coleman (45), A Aherne 0-1 each.

16 August 2020 Round 2	Dohenys	0-12 - 0-12	Bandon	Páirc Uinsinn
	M Buckley (0-4, 1 free); F Herlihy, K White (0-3 each); C Daly, N Hurley (0-1 each).	Report	M Sugrue (2 frees), D Crowley (0-3 each); B Collins, C O’Mahony, R Crowley (0-2 each).	Referee: A O'Connor (Ballygarvan)

16 August 2020 Round 2	Fermoy	2-06 - 2-07	Clyda Rovers	Mill Field
	M Brennan (2-1), R O’Hagan (0-3, 1 free, 1 mark), P de Róiste (0-2).	Report	C Flanagan (2-0, 1-0 pen), C Corbett (0-4, 2 frees), C O’Sullivan, P Cronin and P Kissane (0-1 each).	Referee: J Regan (Lough Rovers)

6 September 2020 Round 3	Dohenys	1-08 - 0-11	Clyda Rovers	Inniscarra
	M Buckley 1-4, (0-3 f), F Herlihy 0-2, C Barry 0-2, (0-1 f).	Report	C Corbett 0-6, (0-4 f), S Ronayne 0-2, E Walsh 0-1, P Cronin 0-1 45, C Flanagan 0-1 f.

6 September 2020 Round 3	Fermoy	2-13 - 2-11	Bandon	Glanmire
	R O’Hagan (0-6, 5 frees), B O’Sulliavn (1-1, 1-0 penalty), A Aherne (1-0), P de Róiste (0-3), K Morrison (0-2), M Brennan (0-1).	Report	B Collins (2-4), M Sugrue (0-4, all frees), M Cahalane (0-2), P Crowley (0-1).

Knockout stage

Relegation playoff

18 September 2020 Playoff	St. Nicholas'	0-02 - 3-15	Bantry Blues	Sam Maguire Park
	D Morris (0-2f).	Report	A Coakley (1-8, 0-3 frees), R Deane (1-1), S McSweeney (1-0), S Coughlan (0-1 45’, 0-1 free) and B Foley (0-2 each), S Murray and T Cronin (0-1 each).

Quarter-finals

20 September 2020 Quarter-final	Mallow	2-16 - 2-10	Bandon	Blarney Sportsfield
	C O’Riordan (1-5, 0-1 free), D Moynihan (1-0), R Harkin, J Dillon, E Stanton (0-2), J Loughrey, K O’Sullivan, M O’Rourke (free), P Herlihy, K Sheehan (0-1 each).	Report	M Sugrue (1-5, 0-1 free, 0-1 45), P Crowley (1-0), Darren Crowley (0-3), R Crowley, B Collins (0-1 each).

20 September 2020 Quarter-final	St Michael's	0-04 - 3-12	Éire Óg	Ballyanley Sportsfield
	A O’Connell (0-2, 1 free), E Buckley (free), T Deasy (0-1 each).	Report	D Goulding (0-9, 2 frees), K Hallissey (2-0), C O’Callaghan (1-1), B Hurley, J Kelleher (0-1 each).

Semi-finals

27 September 2020 Semi-final	Fermoy	0-09 - 0-12	Mallow	Glanworth Sportsfield
	R O’Hagan (0-4, frees); K Morrison (0-2); L Coleman (45), P De Róiste, M Brennan (0-1 each).	Report	C O’Riordan (0-5, 2 frees); K O’Sullivan (0-3), R Harkin (0-2, 1 45); M O’Rourke, K Sheehan (0-1 each).

4 October 2020 Semi-final	O'Donovan Rossa	1-08 - 2-10	Éire Óg	Ahamilla Sportsground
	D Óg Hodnett (1-2), D Hourihane (0-3, 0-2 frees), K Davis, D Shannon and S Fitzgerald (0-1 each).	Report	C O’Callaghan (1-3), D Goulding (0-5, 0-2 frees), D Foley (1-0), E O’Shea and K Hallissey (0-1 each).

Final

19 June 2021 Final	Mallow	1-07 - 2-13	Éire Óg	Páirc Uí Chaoimh
	M O'Rourke 1-0, J Loughrey 0-2, K Sheehan, E Stanton, S Hayes, S Merritt, C O'Riordan 0-1 each.	Report	Joe Cooper 1-2, D Foley 1-2, D Goulding 0-4 f, B Hurley 0-2, J Murphy, E O'Shea, D Dineen 0-1 each.	Referee: B Coniry (Crosshaven)

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Daniel Goulding	Éire Óg	2-34	40	6	6.66
2	Cian O'Riordan	Mallow	2-20	26	5	5.20
3	Mark Sugrue	Bandon	1-19	22	4	5.50
4	Arthur Coakley	Bantry Blues	1-16	19	4	4.75
5	Donal Óg Hodnett	O'Donovan Rossa	3-08	17	4	4.25
	Kevin Davis	O'Donovan Rossa	1-14	17	3	5.66
	Diarmuid Mac Tomáis	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	0-17	17	3	5.66
8	Ruairí Deane	Bantry Blues	2-10	16	3	5.33
	Mark Buckley	Dohenys	1-13	16	3	5.33
	Ruairí O'Hagan	Fermoy	0-16	16	4	4.00

In a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Daniel Goulding	Éire Óg	2-07	13	Kiskeam
2	Kevin Davis	O'Donovan Rossa	1-08	11	St. Nicholas'
2	Arthur Coakley	Bantry Blues	1-08	11	St. Nicholas'
4	Barry Collins	Bandon	2-04	10	Fermoy
5	Daniel Goulding	Éire Óg	0-09	9	St Michael's
6	Cian O'Riordan	Mallow	1-05	8	Bantry Blues
	Cian O'Riordan	Mallow	1-05	8	Bandon
	Ruairí Deane	Bantry Blues	1-05	8	Mallow
	Mark Sugrue	Bandon	1-05	8	Mallow
10	Martin Brennan	Fermoy	2-01	7	Clyda Rovers
	Donal Óg Hodnett	O'Donovan Rossa	2-01	7	St. Nicholas'
	Ben Searten	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh	1-04	7	O'Donovan Rossa
	Mark Buckley	Dohenys	1-04	7	Clyda Rovers
	Eoghan Buckley	St Michael's	1-04	7	Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh
	Mark Sugrue	Bandon	0-07	7	Clyda Rovers

Miscellaneous

Éire Óg are the first winners of the Senior A Championship.

References

^ "2020 Championship Draws". Cork GAA website. 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
^ "Cork GAA Statement 18/03/2020". Cork GAA website. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^ "GAA suspends all club games with immediate effect until further notice". The 42. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
^ "County Executive Update 21/10/2020". Cork GAA website. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
^ Cormican, Eoghan (4 May 2021). "Castlehaven v Nemo Rangers Cork Premier SFC final clash earmarked for August". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^ "County champions: Éire Óg carve out their own place in football history". The Echo. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
^ Cormican, Eoghan (26 March 2019). "Here's a breakdown of the proposals to restructure the Cork county championships". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
^ "Cork clubs vote down radical restructuring proposals". RTÉ Sport. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

External links

Cork GAA website

[1] "2020 Championship Draws". Cork GAA website. 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.

[2] "Cork GAA Statement 18/03/2020". Cork GAA website. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2020.

[3] "GAA suspends all club games with immediate effect until further notice". The 42. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.

[4] "County Executive Update 21/10/2020". Cork GAA website. 21 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.

[5] Cormican, Eoghan (4 May 2021). "Castlehaven v Nemo Rangers Cork Premier SFC final clash earmarked for August". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 8 May 2021.

[6] "County champions: Éire Óg carve out their own place in football history". The Echo. 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 June 2021.

[7] Cormican, Eoghan (26 March 2019). "Here's a breakdown of the proposals to restructure the Cork county championships". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

[8] "Cork clubs vote down radical restructuring proposals". RTÉ Sport. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.

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