IS there another chapter to be written in this incredible O’Donovan Rossa story?
The Skibbereen club is one win away from a second All-Ireland final in 12 months. They are away to Connacht champions Annaghdown at their home ground in Cregg, Galway this Sunday (1pm throw-in) in the All-Ireland intermediate club semi-final.
Incredibly, the rampant Rossas are going for their sixth championship title in a row after winning both the Cork and Munster intermediate championships already this year. They conquered the junior grade in 2023, winning Cork, Munster and All-Ireland titles. That’s five championship successes on the bounce.
The jump between junior and intermediate has clearly not affected this team. If anything, they have improved with every game.
James O’Donovan’s team has won nine out of ten championship games this year, their loss by a point to Valley Rovers in the county round-robin being the exception, 0-13 to 3-5. They then went on to beat the Innishannon club by 3-16 to 0-3 in the county semi-final. Revenge.
Skibb followed that up with a win over Naomh Abán in the final, 0-12 to 1-8, a team they lost to in the junior decider just two years ago. The Rossas had conquered Cork again.
Next up, they beat Kerry side Scartaglin by 4-9 to 3-11 in front of a sizable Skibb crowd in Rossa Park in the Munster semi-final. They were Munster champions after seeing off Limerick senior victors St Ailbes 0-10 to 0-7. The five from five was complete. Six from six is the next port of call.
Winning is a serious habit to maintain and Skibb have embraced it with their skill, fight and footballing ability.
Éabha O'Donovan leads the line for O'Donovan Rossa.
‘I remember James O’Donovan saying to us “this team has no limits. There is no ceiling when it comes to this team, we really do need to have belief in ourselves.” That first county title was our main goal,’ centre forward Kate O’Donovan said on a recent Star Sport Podcast.
‘After that, momentum is a fantastic thing. When you are on a winning streak, you feed off that positivity and those winnings. You just want more and more. The county title really set us off for the journey ahead.’
So how have they become so assured in their performances despite being a new second tier team? It goes back to the simple things.
‘It is really about getting the basics right. The skills, the training, the fitness. From a momentum standpoint, it is about having the belief in yourself, that you can go out and keep going,’ O’Donovan added.
It is also evident that the whole town is right behind this group of players. They are improving with every win, so no wonder the Skibbereen area is filled with red and white flags.
‘We’ve had such a loyal set of supporters even when we started off playing and to see that grow and grow, just like ourselves as we’ve developed as a squad, is just absolutely fantastic,’ O’Donovan acknowledged.
The next challenge is against Annaghdown, who beat Dunedin Connollys by 4-11 to 0-8 in the quarter-final last weekend. The Galway side’s full back Isabel Claffey would be one player for Skibb to watch, she was on the inter-county panel that reached the All-Ireland senior final this year.
The Rossas will focus on themselves and lean on the experience that has brought them this far.
‘These things don’t come around often at all. Even county titles don’t come around often. When there is an opportunity like this, you do really just have to go for it and give it all you got,’ Kate O’Donovan added.
