Knocknagree are into the SAFC quarter-finals after seeing off Fermoy at a windy Buttevant GAA Grounds on Sunday afternoon.
Heading into the tie it was clear that the Duhallow men needed just a point to secure their progression while Fermoy required a win and other results to go their way if they were to avoid the relegation playoff fixture. Knocknagree got what they wanted; Fermoy did not.
Knocknagree keeper Patrick Doyle was delighted with how things panned out for his side.
"You would have to credit Fermoy in the first half," he said, "they played the conditions very well. When we got the black card, they just held onto the ball, picked us off and played some great football - which it must be said we expected from them.
"I thought we showed great heart and grit in the second half to dig it out against the wind, it didn't look easy for a long time, but we got through anyway.
"We were looking for scores at the end because we thought we might get first place but I think we only lost out to Cill na Marta by a point but we have a quarter final now to look forward to - we can't wait."
Knocknagree, as one might expect with the strong wind and the sun to their backs opened the scoring first - a big two point effort from Michael McSweeney broke the scoring duck with five minutes on the clock.
Niall O'Connor was next on the board with a point after Liam Coleman had made a brilliant save when a goal looked imminent for Knocknagree.
Some last-ditch defending from Peter Murphy and James Molloy saved Fermoy from going further behind and, against the wind, the Avondhu men slotted over their only point of the opening half, a free from David Lardner making sure that the boys in black wouldn't go in at the turn with nothing on the board.
Knocknagree still looked comfortable and despite losing David Twomey for 10 minutes the Duhallow lads started to pile on the pressure. Two superb two-pointers from Anthony O'Connor and Eoghan McSweeney pushed the men in blue and white up by seven - all signs pointed to a big Knocknagree win but Fermoy continued to push and got themselves back in the tie on 25 minutes.
A brilliant run the length of the field from Molloy gave the ball to Darragh Daly who set up Gary O'Callaghan and the full forward finished superbly to the opposition's net.
Fermoy's Pádraig De Roiste also made a significant intervention before the break - clearing off the line when a goal looked assured for the Duhallow side. (0-8 to 1-1 at half time).
Knocknagree again scored first after the break but now aided by the strong wind, Fermoy started to take a hold and a two-point free from half-time sub Ben Twomey was followed by a free from the same player and a goal from David Lardner - just a point between the sides and a quarter of the game to go.
Credit must go to Knocknagree for the way they dug this one out and a dominant last few minutes saw them bag 1-3 late on - Eoghan McSweeney's major on the stroke of full time almost enough to get them through as group winners.
For Fermoy, the loss sees them into a relegation playoff tie, and while it is hard to find the positives in three losses on the bounce, the fact that the north Cork side were much better in this game than the others may well go some way to lifting the camp as they head to the all-or-nothing game in a couple of weeks time.
Scorers for Knocknagree: E McSweeney 1-2 (1-2-0); A O'Connor 0-5 (0-2-3); D O'Connor, M McSweeney (0-2-0), N O'Leary 0-2 each, G Looney 0-1.
Fermoy: B Twomey 0-4f (0-2-2); D Lardner 1-1 (0-1f); G O'Callaghan 1-0.
KNCOCKNAGREE: P Doyle; M O'Mahoney, K Buckley, G O'Connor; G Looney, D O'Mahony, D O'Mahoney; D O'Connor, D Twomey, N O'Connor, E McSweeney, K Cronin; D O'Connor, A O'Connor, M McSweeney. Subs: T O'Connor for D Mahoney (ht), T O'Mahony for D Twomey (55).
FERMOY: L Coleman; L Aherne, J O'Brie, J Molloy; G Larder, T Clancy. P Murphy; J Hutchings, P De Roiste; D Kelly, D O'Carroll, D Lardner; D Daly, G O'Callaghan, M Brennan. Subs: B Twomey for M Brennan (ht), A Aherne for D Kelly (43), D O'Callaghan for D O'Carroll (55), J Ring for D Daly (inj)(58).