BY GER McCARTHY
ST OLIVER PLUNKETT’S remarkable junior B county double-winning season is far from over with Munster football and hurling knock-out ties looming large on the horizon.
Tipperary’s Drom and Inch stand in the Carbery outfit’s way of reaching a provincial hurling decider in Killeedy, Limerick, on Saturday (2.30pm). Waterford’s Erin’s Own will face Plunkett’s in the Munster junior B football championship in a fortnight’s time.
Eddie O’Driscoll played a pivotal role in helping Plunkett’s win two county trophies last year. The 41-year-old was on hand to accept a West Cork Sports Star monthly award on behalf of his club at the Celtic Ross Hotel earlier this week.
Eddie O’Driscoll (back, fourth from left) of St Oliver Plunkett's GAA Club, with a West Cork Sports Star monthly award, pictured with family and club members at the Celtic Ross Hotel.(Photos: Martin Walsh)
‘Playing in the Munster championships is a great boost to the club and to the players,’ O’Driscoll told The Southern Star.
‘There are a lot of young players on this panel. For them to enjoy the success of winning two county championships is great, especially being of such a young age. They can build on it. Going back up to junior A this year, those successes will definitely stand to them.’
It has been a long year for St Oliver Plunkett’s – and that’s putting it mildly. Plunkett’s claimed two county trophies last summer and reached a West Cork championship final only to fall to Goleen. The junior B double-winners had to wait until December to play their first Munster hurling championship game, a 1-15 to 0-6 quarter-final victory over Waterford’s De La Salle. There is still a noticeable buzz around the club and excitement is growing at the possibility of qualifying for two provincial finals in the same year.
‘It has been a long year but we experienced plenty of short years where you finished up in July or August,’ O’Driscoll said.
‘We are not complaining at all. It is great to be involved in the Munster championships. There has been little or no break going into the new year but everyone is looking forward to the games and, as I said, no one is complaining.
‘We would like to do well. We are representing our county, West Cork and Carbery and want to compete at this level. A huge amount of work has been put in over the last few weeks after Christmas. There has been a lot of tough running to help build up the fitness. We are ready to go again.’
2023 was a year of football and hurling double-winning clubs as Newcestown and Aghabullogue wrote their names into the Cork GAA history books. St Oliver Plunkett’s two junior B county successes deserve equal praise and were achieved by drawing from the same panel of players.
‘It was definitely a help having almost the entire panel playing hurling and football,’ O’Driscoll agreed.
‘The county board put out the fixtures early in the year and we knew we would be playing week in, week out, once the games started. We took it game by game and beat a lot of talented teams to reach and win the two county finals. There was a period of seven or eight weeks where we had a game each weekend.
‘Having a load of young fellas on the panel has helped push us on. I play in the full-back line where maybe I don’t have as much running to do! This past year and winning two county championships has been the highlight of my career.’
Next up for O’Driscoll and St Oliver Plunkett’s is a Munster junior B hurling semi-final where qualifying for a provincial decider would represent another notable achievement.
