BY SEÁN HOLLAND
AFTER a whirlwind season that saw O'Donovan Rossa Ladies crowned Cork Intermediate champions, the Skibbereen side is gearing up for their Munster semi-final clash against Kerry's Scartaglen, in Rossa Park this Saturday (1pm).
With momentum from back-to-back successes, their Junior All-Ireland victory last year followed by this year’s county title, the players are full of excitement and determination as they enter the provincial competition once more.
Manager James O'Donovan, reflecting on the atmosphere in the camp, notes a familiar sense of anticipation. ‘I suppose there is maybe a little bit of déjà vu alright,’ he said. ‘It's the dark evenings and the lights on over in Rossa Park. You're into the pavilion afterwards for the soup and the sandwiches. We've been here before, but it's still exciting.’
This year's Munster campaign comes with the added bonus of a home semi-final. ‘To think that we're playing an Intermediate Munster semi-final at home, it’s a big occasion and it's exciting for the girls, definitely to be at that stage again.’
The Skibb Ladies have formed a close-knit unit over the past couple of years, something O'Donovan credits as a key factor in their success. ‘They're a very close-knit group and it's been such a great journey for them. Obviously, winning the Junior All-Ireland helped that massively. They just want to keep it going as long as they can,' he shared.
As for their preparation, the manager believes their experience from last season will be helpful, though he cautions against over-relying on it. ‘Whilst having a bit of experience from last year and playing late into the year is helpful, of course, it will count for very little next Saturday,’ he remarked.
In terms of preparation, the focus has been solely on O'Donovan Rossa's own performance, and they weren’t looking past the county final. ‘We were just concentrating on what we were doing. Taking from the old motto, it was just one game at a time. The Naomh Abán game was such a huge game for us, so we knew that we couldn't get distracted in any way coming into that game because if we were to win the game, we knew it was only going to be a by a point or two. Our full energy was on that game. When we came out the other side of it and knew we were in the Munster semi-final, and that’s when you start thinking about Scartaglen.’
Facing the Kerry champions brings an element of the unknown for O'Donovan Rossa, with little information available about their Munster opponents. ‘We haven't come across them before. You're facing up against Scartaglen and you don't know whether you're up at that standard or what standard they are at. You're looking at match reports and social media from the Kerry Intermediate final, and that's basically what you have.’ Still, the team is determined to control what they can. ‘We just have to concentrate on ourselves and our own girls and hope that we can deliver our best performance. Then if that’s good enough to win the game, that’s good enough. If it’s not, it’s not.’
