East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship

East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Current season or competition: 2023 East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship
Code	Hurling
Founded	1926; 98 years ago (1926)
Region	Imokilly (GAA)
Trophy	Jamesy Kelleher Cup
No. of teams	9
Title holders	Carrignavar (3rd title)
Most titles	Castlemartyr (11 titles)
Sponsors	Michael O'Connor Motor Factors
Official website	East Cork GAA

The East Cork Junior A Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Michael O'Connor Motor Factors East Cork Junior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Imokilly Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1926 for junior hurling teams in East Cork.

The series of games begin in June, with the championship culminating with the final in September. The championship includes a knock-out stage and a "back door" for teams defeated in the first round.

The East Cork Junior Championship is an integral part of the wider Cork Junior A Hurling Championship. The winners and runners-up of the East Cork championship join their counterparts from the other six divisions to contest the county championship.

11 clubs currently participate in the East Cork Championship. The title has been won at least once by 20 different teams. The all-time record-holders are Castlemartyr who have won 11 titles.

Carrignavar are the 2023 title-holders, having defeated St Ita's by 0-18 to 1-14 in the 2023 final.^[1]

Format

Group stage

The 8 teams are divided into two groups of four. Over the course of the group stage, each team plays once against the others in the group, resulting in each team being guaranteed at least three games. Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the group stage table by points gained, then scoring difference and then their head-to-head record. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knockout stage.^{[citation needed]}

Knockout stage

Semi-finals: The two group winners and the two runners-up from the group stage contest this round. The two winners from these games advance to the final.

Final: The two semi-final winners contest the final. The winning team are declared champions.^{[citation needed]}

Relegation

The two bottom-placed teams from the group stage take part in a playoff, with the losing team being relegated to the East Cork Junior B Hurling Championship.^{[citation needed]}

Qualification and promotion

At the end of the championship, the winning team enters the Cork Junior A Hurling Championship and by winning this, they will be promoted to the Cork Premier Junior Hurling Championship for the following season.^{[citation needed]}

Teams

As of 2024, the teams included:^[2]

Team	Location	Colours	Position in 2023	In championship since	Championship Titles	Last Championship Title
Bride Rovers	Rathcormac	Green, white and yellow	Quarter-finals		5	1998
Carrignavar	Carrignavar	Red and green	Champions		3	2023
Carrigtwohill	Carrigtwohill	Blue and gold	Quarter-finals		9	1994
Cobh	Cobh	Yellow and green	Semi-finals		3	1985
Killeagh	Killeagh	Green and white	Semi-finals		5	1995
Midleton	Midleton	Black and white	Group stage		9	1990
Sarsfields	Glanmire	Blue, white and black	Group stage		4	2016
St. Ita's	Gortroe	White and green	Runners-up		1	2021

Roll of honour

#	Team	Wins	Runners-up	Years won	Years Runners-up
1	Castlemartyr	11	4	1935, 1946, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1963, 1964, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014[3]	1962, 1967, 1975, 2011
2	Midleton	10	4	1925, 1929, 1934, 1936, 1943, 1945, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1990[3]	1942, 1983, 1988, 1999
3	Carrigtwohill	9	5	1941, 1947, 1948, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1978, 1994[3]	1928, 1929, 1943, 1964, 1969
	Cloyne	9	4	1938, 1939, 1944, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1976, 1986, 1987[3]	1945, 1959, 1974, 1978
5	Aghada	6	7	1931, 1933, 1940, 1980, 1991, 1992[3]	1927, 1935, 1939, 1949, 1979, 1989, 1990
	Erin's Own	6	5	1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 2007, 2022[3]	2001, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2021
7	Fr. O'Neill's	5	7	1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005[3]	1961, 1963, 1987, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2004
	Killeagh	5	6	1967, 1970, 1971, 1988, 1995[3]	1951, 1957, 1986, 1993, 1994, 2008
	Bride Rovers	5	5	1930, 1932, 1968, 1969, 1998[3]	1931, 1938, 1972, 1973, 1997
10	Dungourney	4	8	1972, 2006, 2011, 2015[3]	1941, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1998, 2003, 2010
	Sarsfields	4	6	1937, 1953, 2004, 2016[3]	1926, 1936, 1968, 2007, 2009, 2013
	St. Catherine’s	4	6	1957, 1981, 1983, 2017[3]	1955, 1956, 1960, 1977, 1980, 2016
13	Cobh	3	4	1926, 1959, 1985[3]	1952, 1958, 2014, 2022
	Watergrasshill	3	3	1974, 2000, 2003[3]	1982, 1985, 1995
	Carrignavar	3	3	2008,[3] 2012,[3] 2023[1]	1966, 2019, 2020
	Castlelyons	3	2	1955, 1993, 1997[3]	1954, 1996
	Ballinacurra	3	0	1927, 1928, 1942[3]	—
18	Russell Rovers	2	2	2018, 2019[3]	2006, 2017
19	Leeside	1	3	1949[3]	1930, 1932, 1933
	Youghal	1	3	1952[3]	1953, 1965, 1984
	St. Ita's	1	3	2021[3]	2015, 2018, 2023
	Lisgoold	1	0	2020[3]	—

List of finals

See also

• East Cork Junior A Football Championship

References

External links

• East Cork GAA website

This page was last edited on 9 April 2024, at 22:51