James Masters (born 13 July 1982 in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Ireland) is an Irish former

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

er who played for the

Nemo Rangers Nemo Rangers Hurling & Football Club is a Cork-based Gaelic Athletic Association club on the southside of Cork city, Ireland. The club was founded in 1922 and is involved in Gaelic football, hurling, Ladies football and Camogie. History Nemo R ...

club and at senior level for the Cork county team from 2005 until 2010.

Biography

James Masters was born in Cork in 1982. He was educated locally at

Coláiste Chríost Rí Coláiste Chríost Rí ( en, Christ the King College) is a Trusteeship Board Catholic secondary school for boys based on Capwell Road in Turners Cross, Cork, Ireland. History The school was founded by the Presentation Brothers and owned by the ...

on the south side of the city. It was here that he first came to prominence as a hurler and a footballer on various school teams. In 2001 Masters was the star player for the coláiste when he scored nine points against St. Colman's College to win the county colleges' title. He later studied at the

Garda Síochána College Garda Síochána College is the education and training college of the Garda Síochána (Irish police service). It is located at McCan Barracks, Templemore, County Tipperary in Ireland. The college has been in Templemore since 1964. History The ...

Templemore Templemore () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly. The 2011 Censu ...

and currently works as a Garda in Crookstown.

Playing career

Club

Masters played his club

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

and football with the

club in Cork. He joined the senior panel in the early 2000s; however, he had to wait several years before he would make a big impact, due to the presence of stalwarts

Joe Kavanagh Joe Kavanagh (born 27 February 1973) is an Irish sportsperson. He played Gaelic football with his local club Nemo Rangers and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1992 until 2002. His brother, Derek Kavanagh Derek Kavanag ...

and

Colin Corkery Colin Corkery (born 5 January 1971) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Nemo Rangers and at senior level for the Cork county team from 1993 until 2004. Playing career Club Corkery played his club football with t ...

playing in his favoured position. In 2002 Nemo reached the final of the provincial club championship. Masters came on as a substitute in that game as the club trounced Monaleen of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

by 4–15 to 0–6. It was Masters's first

Munster Senior Club Football Championship The Munster Senior Club Football Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship) is an annual Gaelic football competition for the champion clubs of each county. It has been organised by the Mu ...

winners' medal. In spite of contributing to this victory he played no part in Nemo's subsequent

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Kilcoo of ...

triumph on

St Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

, 2003. Two years later in 2005 Masters had established himself on the full-forward line with Nemo. He won his first county senior championship title on the field of play that year as

Muskerry Muskerry ( ga, Múscraí) is a central region of County Cork, Ireland which incorporates the baronies of Muskerry WestSt. Vincent's of Dublin. Unfortunately, Masters ended up on the losing side on that occasion. In 2008 Nemo and Masters made it four county championship titles in-a-row.

Inter-county

Masters first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the

minor football team in 2000. That year, as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the team, he won a

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

winners' medal in that competition following a 1–13 ro 0–14 defeat of arch-rivals

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in County ...

. Cork later qualified for the All-Ireland final, with

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

providing the opposition. A close game followed; however, at the full-time whistle Cork were the champions by 2–12 to 0–13. Not only did Masters collect an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

minor winners' medal that day but he also had the honour of collecting the cup on behalf of his county. By 2001 Masters was too old to play in the minor grade; however, he was an automatic choice for the Cork under-21 team. That year he won a

title in that grade following a 1–12 to 0–8 defeat of

. Cork were subsequently defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final. Masters had no further success with the county under-21 footballers. In 2005 Masters became a full member of the Cork senior football team. That year he lined out in his first Munster final. Reigning All-Ireland champions Kerry provided the opposition on that occasion; however, Cork were beaten by 1–11 to 0–11. Cork remained in the championship following this defeat; however, both Cork and Kerry later met again in the All-Ireland semi-final. That game turned into an absolute rout. Kerry won easily by 1–19 to 0–9. In 2006 Cork lined out against Kerry in the Munster final once again. That game ended in a 0–10 apiece draw. The replay saw a much fresher Cork team defeat Kerry by 1–12 to 0–9. Masters proved the hero of the day, as he scored 1–7. The quirks of the championship saw Cork face Kerry again in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final. In a similar pattern to previous encounters Cork failed to beat Kerry at

Croke Park Croke Park ( ga, Páirc an Chrócaigh, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and he ...

. A 0–16 to 0–10 resulted in Masters's side being defeated. In 2007 Cork narrowly lost their Munster crown to Kerry. In spite of the 1–15 to 1–13 defeat Cork still had another chance to claim the All-Ireland title. Cork later did well in the All-Ireland series and finally qualified for the championship decider. Kerry, however, were the opponents. While the first half was played on an even keel, 'the Kingdom' ran riot in the second half and a rout ensued. At the full-time whistle Cork were trounced by 3–13 to 1–9. In 2008 Cork gained a modicum of revenge on Kerry when sides met in the Munster final. Kerry were cruising by eight points at the interval; however, Cork stormed back in the second-half. Kerry could only muster three points as Cork secured a 1–16 to 1–11 victory. It was Masters's second Munster winners' medal. Both sides met again in the All-Ireland semi-final; however, after a thrilling draw and a replay Kerry were the team that advanced to the championship decider. In 2009 Cork defeated Kerry in a replay of the provincial semi-final, thus securing a place for Masters's side in a fifth consecutive Munster final.

provided the opposition on that occasion and, while many expected the game to be a foregone conclusion, Cork had to fight tooth-and-nail for every ball. For a while it looked as if Limerick would claim an historic victory; however, at the full-time whistle Cork got out of jail and won by just a single point. It was Masters's third

Munster Senior Football Championship The Munster Senior Football Championship, known simply as the Munster Championship and shortened to Munster SFC, is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Munster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). It i ...

winners' medal. Masters decided to withdraw from the Cork panel in March 2010 citing his lack of game time as the reason. Masters had become a more peripheral figure in the Cork set up throughout 2009 with the emergence of younger players such as Colm O'Neill reducing him to the role of a substitute.

Province

Masters also lined out with

in the inter-provincial football competition. He first played with his province in 2005; however, Munster were defeated by

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

at the semi-final stage.

Career statistics

Club

Inter-county

Championship record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masters, James 1982 births Living people Alumni of Garda Síochána College Cork hurlers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Dual players Garda Síochána officers Nemo Rangers Gaelic footballers Nemo Rangers hurlers Seandún hurlers Munster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers People educated at Coláiste Chríost Rí Hurling goalkeepers Police officers from Cork (city)