With the both adult teams being out of championship, all the focus shifted to the U21 and minors and it would be a busy week for the U21s. In what was one of the longest championships in recent times Fermoy would have played 5 games before reaching a final. A hard battled game against Ballygiblin secured our place in a Semi-final against Glanworth last Wednesday and within 3 days would be playing in the North Cork Final, where Kilworth awaited the victors.

Fermoy 4-13 Glanworth 1-6

Wednesday evening the lads travelled to Ballygiblin to face Glanworth off the back of an excellent performance the week before. The Pitch on Wednesday was slippy but other than that was in ideal condition. Fermoy lined out with yet another different line up and all shoulders were to the wheel. Inside the opening 15 minutes Fermoy had put their stamp on the game with goals from Shane Aherne and Adam Creed and well taken points from Eric Delaney and co. Jack Scannell and James Molloy were at the break down in the backs more often than not and David Lardner and Nathan Collins did the work in the middle of the field. Fermoy hocked, blocked and pressurized any Glanworth activity and as the half approached Fermoy had a distinct lead built up. Leaders in Shane Aherne began to grow stronger even through injury and Conor Barry and Daniel Flynn were working their socks off in the half forward line. With the digging out of the last game, this game offered more scoring chances and the confidence was growing. The half ended 3-7 to 0-2 in our favour The second half we kicked up again with some quick scores but Glanworth too, came out with a bit of fire and with pride on the line, they got a foothold on the game. With such a strong first half, the scoreline was very one sided but Glanworth battled hard and made the lads work for the second half. With 10 minutes left Fermoy got there 4th and final goal pushing the final lead to 4-13 to 1-6. With a big score Fermoy had now played a tough close one and high scoring game but most importantly had played more games together as a panel. The team that lined out would all stay the same for the Final on Saturday at 6:30 in Araglen.

Fermoy 0-14 Kilworth 0-12

Saturday was one of the wettest days so far with a constant fall all day. In fairness to Araglen the field was in its best condition possible. Fermoy had already played Kilworth but this time the Winners would be crowded and Kilworths hopes for a 3 in a row would be on the line. The game was well contested through-out and Shane Aherne opened Fermoys scoring, pointing from full forward. Kilworths only scoring threat was Sheehan would was faultless from frees but Fermoys backs led by man of the match, Ross O’Sullivan began to gain their mark on the game. From number 1 to 15 on both sides were giving it there all it was a clash to behold especially with the conditions being to poorly. Fermoy went in at the half with a small margin of 0-9 to 0-5. Kilworth would now gain the advantage of the wind. Conor Barry made way for David O’Callaghan and he made his mark by catching the first few balls that went his way. James Molloy took the game by the neck along with his minor teammate Greg Lardner. With a touch tight Fullback line, Kilworth would only get one point from play in the second half and the rest of the scoring would come from the stick of Sheehan. Coming into the final 10 minutes Colm Hurley and Sean McCarthy came in to the game and tightened up the mid-field. 13 to 10 points with 10 to go, it was nervy stuff. Kilworth pointed to bring it to 0-13 to 0-11 but an insurance point from Delaney pushed it back out to 14 to 11. The final % were close and cagy but Fermoy did what they had to and came out on top as victors winning their first north cork in 13 years. They will now progress into the County and set the target high for themselves. The team lined up as following: J Wales’ J Scannell, R O’Sullivan, L Aherne, J Molloy, G Lardner, R Morrison, N Collins, D Lardner, C Barry, D Dawson, D Flynn, A Creed, S Aherne(Capt), E Delaney.