MÉABH O’Donovan is already excited about the potential West Cork derbies in the county senior football championship in 2025.
The county-winning Clonakilty captain knows her team could be pitted against Castlehaven, Clonakilty or newly-promoted O’Donovan Rossa, and those derbies would raise interest levels in the West Cork division.
‘It’s a great sign for the division that there will be four local teams at senior level next season. Kinsale and Castlehaven have been senior for a few years, and now we have O’Donovan Rossa moving up as well so that will make it even more interesting,’ O’Donovan said, after she accepted a West Cork Sports Star monthly award as captain of the trailblazing Clonakilty team that won the county senior B title this season.
It was the first time the Clon club won a senior ladies football title, and they’ll hope to use it as a stepping stone heading into 2025.
Clonakilty football captain Méabh O’Donovan, with her West Cork Sports Star award, pictured with, from left, Aoife, Niamh, Liam, and parents Aine and Michael. (Photo: Martin Walsh)
‘We want to push on and now we know we have a county title, we know we are good enough to take the next step,’ added O’Donovan, who agrees Clonakilty will take huge confidence from this season’s title success. It was how they were crowned county champions, too, that marks this down as an important milestone in this group’s development.
O’Donovan points to their group loss (3-7 to 2-9) to eventual county finalists Éire Óg as a sign that Clonakilty can hold their own against the best in the county. Finishing third in their group, Clon went into the senior B championship where they dethroned county B champs Castlehaven in an epic semi-final. Level after extra-time, Clon came out on top in a 30-metre free shoot-out.
‘That was a huge win for us, and it’s important that we can win games like that – it builds self belief because it shows we’re good enough to beat teams like Castlehaven,’ O’Donovan said, and Clon – under new manager David Aherne this season – went one further in the final, beating Kinsale 2-5 to 0-5 at MTU Cork in October. That was a special day for this group, as goals from Sinéad O’Donovan and Aisling Moloney proved to be the difference. The reward? Clon are county senior B champions, and there’s a desire to drive it on again in 2025.
‘Of course, we’re delighted to win a county title but we want to make an impact in the A championship now,’ O’Donovan insisted. With the potential for a few tasty local derbies in 2025, there’s a lot to look forward to.
