FINISHING the year as Carbery champions for the fourth time in eight seasons, Kilmacabea know how to win the division’s junior A football championship.
The men from Leap captured the Carbery crown for the first time since 2020 and also a year after their agonising loss after extra time to Barryroe in 2023, by beating Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas by 1-12 to 1-4 in the 2024 decider.
‘We were over in Dunmanway the year before against Barryroe. It was nice that almost 12 months on it was the same venue. You could really draw comparisons when you heard the final whistle. It was nice,’ vice captain Ian Jennings explains.
‘We got a goal in the last two or three minutes and it extended it (the lead over Mathúnas). It probably did flatter us a little bit on the night. They are a tough team.’
The key thing is when people talk about who are the frontrunners for the south west title, Kilmacabea would be on the list every season for the last decade. The consistency is a big asset in the Leap side.
‘It’s huge. It is kind of testament to where the club is at. Every year, we have been in and around the last four apart two or three of those seasons,’ Jennings says.
‘Even to hold your mainstay at that level is satisfying, to know that every year you are going out as one of the teams to beat. It probably puts a target on your back but you have to embrace that as well. Playing in high pressure is what you do, really.’
Kilmacabea captain Diarmuid O'Callaghan raises the Mick McCarthy Cup.
In terms of reflections for 2024, it’s mixed. The Carbery triumph was huge, but Donie O’Donovan’s men were eyeing a county junior A title. They came up just short against eventual champions Inniscarra in the semi-final, 2-9 to 1-9.
‘We’ll look back at it knowing we’d a good season but if you brought it back to a few weeks ago after the loss to Inniscarra, there was a big sense of disappointment among the group,’ Jennings admits.
‘After the Douglas game, we felt there was a big opportunity there but when you look back on the year compared to last year, to get a West Cork is massive for the club and the community. Even at that, to bring the club up to Páirc Uí Rinn and play there was great for the community. The younger supporters going up to see us play in one of Cork’s stadiums was probably something that will drive them on for the future.’
No doubt, the Kilmacabea players will be disappointed with how the county played out. However, given that Inniscarra went on and won the whole thing (beating Ballygarvan by 1-7 to 1-6), it shows the Carbery champions are not far away.
‘Even the circumstances that Inniscarra won it, they almost stole it by looking at the reports. It shows you need a bit of luck to get over the line. Even if you look back at our Carbery campaign, we only just got over the line against Randals with the width of the crossbar,’ he says.
‘It is a long season, and you have a lot of games. You definitely need an aspect of luck to win competitions at this level.’
As for defending their divisional crown, 2025 is going to be difficult. Not only do you have the stiff competition there from 2024 but the additions of junior B champions Goleen as well as 2022 victors St James make this hard to call.
‘You never win an easy West Cork,’ Jennings says.
‘We’ve played Goleen in challenge games and you are never going to get an easy game off them. Even from playing James throughout the years in Carbery league games, they are always going to be up there. They’ll bring down the experience from playing at that (county) premier junior level.
‘Winning Carbery is no easy task. Especially going in as champions. Everybody will always want to knock you off your perch. I think that was the most disappointing thing in losing to Inniscarra – we all knew the challenge of getting back to that stage is monumental. From the start next season, it is about focusing on our group games and trying to get out of that,’ the Kilmac midfielder adds.
Another pleasing thing about the season is the rising of new leaders to the fray. Kilmacabea are known for their experience being a key factor to get over the line in West Cork. Add in the younger legs and the group is even harder to beat.
‘There are leaders all over the pitch. Even the younger fellas. The likes of Owen Tobin has really stepped up huge this year and he’s still only 21,’ says the vice captain.
‘To have leaders out of the young fellas is huge. Then you have leaders throughout the team like Martin Collins, Diarmuid O’Callaghan, Darren Whooley, all of them. Even Damien (Gore) up front, they each have their own unit. Everyone is expected to step up in situations because sometimes people won’t perform to their potential and others will have to step up.
‘The commitment of some of our fellas is huge. The likes of Ruairi (Hourihane) there who travels down from Galway numerous times just to train and play matches. When he is training, you’d notice that he is driving the standards.’
Kilmacabea will go into the 2025 season as one of the front runners in Carbery. If they can win a fifth crown in nine years, they are sure to have another crack off the county series.
