YOU’VE got to look at the bigger picture when analysing Beara’s recent senior football championship exit.

Yes, it was disappointing to fall at the first hurdle, losing to Avondhu in round two in the unseeded section of the McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier SFC. But this was the first time since June 2022 that Beara competed in the county championship, having withdrawn in the previous three seasons.

That’s the real silver lining: Beara are back up and running.

‘It’s very important to be back playing premier senior,’ Castletownbere’s Fintan Fenner told The Southern Star.

‘It means a lot to us.

‘Everyone in Beara wants to play senior championship football.

‘We are disappointed that we didn’t get the result against Avondhu, but it’s a great day to have the team back out playing and competing. It’s a bonus for the future.’

With Peter O’Leary installed as manager and a renewed effort to get Beara moving in the right direction, lining out in this season’s county championship offers a platform the division will hope to build on.

Against Avondhu, Beara had 30 players togged out, drawing from Castletownbere, Adrigole, Glengarriff and Urhan – another positive sign for the future.

‘Looking back, we will have a few regrets from the game with Avondhu. We’d be very disappointed with our shooting as we were well in that game. But we are back on the pitch and we are back playing with Beara,’ said Fenner, who kicked 1-3 in the 3-5 to 1-7 defeat.

‘We had 30 players togged out. A lot of them are young lads. A lot of that starting team are only 25 or 26 years old, which is a massive bonus.

‘Over the next few years now, lads will be growing, getting better and reaching their prime. Hopefully, we will be back competing.’

Wearing the famous red and white Beara jersey means a lot to Fenner and all those representing the division.

‘It does mean a lot to us,’ he added.

‘It is very disappointing that we haven’t had the opportunity to put it on over the last four years. We are down now and disappointed after losing to Avondhu, but today is a good day as we have the Beara jersey back on again.’

Manager Peter O’Leary had no qualms with the championship exit, but feels there is enough to build on.

‘We will push on and, hopefully, get started a bit earlier next year,’ O’Leary explained.

‘There is no question about it – we will be back playing next year. We have a panel of 34 or 35 lads and the average age is 23. Brian Terry (O’Sullivan), at 33, is pushing the average age up all on his own, in fairness to him!

‘We have another half a dozen lads who are injured and possibly three or four more to come in. There is no question that we are going to field a team next year.

‘This is a start. It wasn’t just a one-off. It is a start.’