IT’S a sign of their success that Laura O’Mahony and O’Donovan Rossa have to continually revisit their targets.
O'Mahony remembers when she was still in Skibbereen Community School the Rossas goal was to get to junior B level, and after winning the 2018 county junior C final against Castlehaven, the target was to become a junior A team.
As the Skibbereen team progressed through the ranks in recent seasons, from junior C in 2018 to an intermediate team this year, their next destination changes – they are now one game away from becoming a senior club.
‘Any intermediate team wants that, to go up senior, and it’s the same for us,’ the O’Donovan Rossa captain explains ahead of Sunday’s Cork LGFA intermediate final against Naomh Abán in Cloughduv (2pm).
‘Now that we are in the county final, we know the prize that’s on offer,
‘Go back to when we were in junior A, winning that was our goal. No-one ever spoke about going up senior because we never thought it was possible.’
O’Mahony is a realist, too. She knows the challenge that awaits on Sunday – Naomh Abán lost last year’s county intermediate final by a single point to a Glanmire team that then went on to win the All-Ireland club title. The Rossas also have history with the Mid Cork team – Naomh Abán beat the Skibbereen side by 4-6 to 1-10 in the 2022 county junior A final. They met again in the group stage of this year’s intermediate championship, and the Rossas won 1-9 to 0-11. Again, little to separate the teams, with Skibb manager James O’Donovan describing the Muskerry side as ‘the standout team’.
‘I’m not sure what you can take from the group game because it was early in the championship, both teams were finding their feet, and both teams will be much further along for this Sunday. It was such a tight game and it showed there’s not much between us,’ O’Mahony says.
‘We’ve played a few times over the years. They went up, then we went up. Now we’re meeting in another county final. They will be gunning for it after losing last year but we know we need to focus on ourselves and on producing a performance and a half to get over the line against them.’
That group clash in August was Skibb’s third game of their first season in the intermediate grade, the reward for their perfect 2023 – the West Cork team won county, Munster and All-Ireland junior titles. The stuff of dreams, and a campaign that saw the Rossas grow and mature as a group. It’s why they won’t be fazed by another county final. In fact, this is their fifth county final in a row, as well as Munster and All-Ireland finals last season, so they’re aware of how to sidestep the distractions and focus on what matters: their performance.
‘We’ve gained so much experience as a group in recent seasons, from playing in finals, and especially travelling to Munster and All-Ireland games last season,’ Cork star O’Mahony agrees.
‘The squad knows what these days are all about now, and that’s important for the younger girls. Even us older girls – as some of them call us! – have more experience again, but no matter how many big games you play or what level it’s at, you’ll always feel nerves so that’s when experience counts.’
O'Donovan Rossa players celebrate with the cup after the 2023 currentaccount.ie LGFA All-Ireland Junior Club Championship final.(Photos: Ben McShane/Sportsfile)
The journey they’ve been on has also brought this band of sisters together. From losing the 2020 county junior B final to winning it the following year. Then losing the 2022 junior A final to Naomh Abán, they bounced back to beat Dohenys last season, which opened the door to Munster and All-Ireland treasures. They’ve shown resilience to fight back from setbacks, and their shared experiences have helped their development.
‘In training you can see the maturity of the team, we are so much more focussed and training is sharper. It’s even a small thing like being ten minutes early for training,’ O’Mahony says.
‘When you’ve had that bit of success, it drives people on, and we were coming off a season that couldn’t have gone any better. We had that momentum coming into this season, and it’s continued throughout the campaign.’
Rossas’ first season at intermediate level couldn't have gone any better to date. They won five of their six group games to take one of the four semi-final spots up for grabs, but it’s the one loss, 3-5 to 0-13 against Valley Rovers, that rankled O’Mahony and her team-mates. Their response? Skibb hammered Rosscarbery 2-17 to 0-5 in their next game. Again, an insight into this group’s mindset.
‘We won our first few games, but it was after we lost to Valley Rovers that, I feel, was the turning point for our championship. That is what kickstarted us, the moment we knew we had to pull up our socks if we wanted to do well. We went out the week after and got a really good performance which was important,’ O’Mahony explains, and while it looks like the Rossas have taken the jump from junior to intermediate in their stride, it hasn’t been all plain sailing.
‘There definitely is a big step up and, to be fair, we weren’t happy with our first couple of performances in the championship. We did win those games, which was the positive, but performance-wise we knew there was more in us.
‘You’d notice that the game is so much faster, you can’t hold onto the ball for too long or you will be dispossessed or your pass will be intercepted. At junior level you have that bit more time to scan and take that extra few seconds, but you learn fast that you need to think faster at this level.’
When Skibb and Valleys met again last weekend, the Rossas exacted their revenge on the only team that has beaten them in this championship, winning their semi-final by 3-16 to 0-3. O’Mahony kicked 0-4, Éabha O’Donovan topped the charts with 2-7, while Aoife O’Driscoll (0-3), Fionnuala O’Driscoll (1-0), Lisa Harte and Kate O’Donovan (0-1 each) were also on target. That was a statement of intent by O’Mahony and Co.
O'Donovan Rossa's Aoife O'Driscoll scored 0-3 in the semi-final against Valleys.
‘In our group no-one is content to be where we are, everyone wants more and we want to drive on together,’ she says. That team spirit will be needed again this weekend. They’ve been here before, and have that experience to lean on. O’Mahony has more experience than most. She has been involved in the Cork senior set-up since 2019 so has a bank of knowledge to call on, not to mention amassing an enviable medal collection. An intermediate club medal is, she hopes, the next addition, but the Rossas will need to dig deep against a strong Naomh Abán outfit if they want to take the next step in their journey.
