AFTER a year of years for the O’Donovan Rossa ladies football team, there has been plenty of time to reflect on a season that will never be forgotten. Cork, Munster and All-Ireland junior champions.
With so many family ties intertwined within this team and town, one imagines there was no shortage of footballing lore and tales of success in the homes of Skibbereen over the Christmas period.
One family in particular was ingrained in the victory like no other.
James O’Donovan was the mastermind behind the team’s incredible success and his daughter Éabha was the player of the match in the All-Ireland final triumph in December.
For James, there was only one word that summed up his feelings when that final whistle blew in Parnell Park against Claremorris – relief.
‘The biggest emotion, without doubt, was relief,’ he said.
‘In that second half, we were under a lot of pressure and we weren’t playing as well as we could and it felt like the game started to slip away from us. Just the thought of losing was desperate, to be honest. To come so far and to get so close and to have lost it would have been heartbreaking. So, when the whistle went it was just pure relief and elation that we’d achieved an All-Ireland.’
O'Donovan Rossa manager James O'Donovan.
With O'Donovan Rossa down one, the key score of the final came when his daughter Éabha rattled the Claremorris net with only five minutes remaining. Éabha, at only 16, had the wherewithal and the presence of a veteran to know the situation she and her team were in. She knew they needed the goal.
‘There was a countdown clock literally behind me in my corner, so I always had a good idea of the time left in the game and I had a glance at it probably about a minute before we got the goal chance. I knew exactly what I had to do. So, when I got the ball I cut inside onto my left foot and hit it as hard as I could into the corner and thankfully it went in. The feeling of the ball hitting the net was just so special,’ explained Éabha.
Gaelic football is something that has always been in the O’Donovan blood. With James coming from a football stronghold, it comes as no surprise as to why Éabha is one of the brightest ladies' football prospects in West Cork.
‘Football would be a bit of an obsession in our house. My home place is Kilmacabea and all my family would have been football-mad and I suppose it’s the same at home,’ James explained.
‘With Éabha, growing up she’s always been kicking the ball outside in the garden with her younger brother Kevin. Putting in all those hours and hours of practice, something had to show in the end and I suppose that ended up being in the All-Ireland final. It paid off for her and her teammates on the day.’
For Éabha, it was a unique experience having her father in charge. Having not coached her before it took time to get accustomed to her new coach but looking back she is forever grateful to have had her father by her side in a year she’ll never forget.
‘I got no special treatment off him anyways!’ Éabha laughed.
‘It was his first year coaching me. He had coached my brother before. It took me a small bit to get used to but then it became second nature just to hop into the car and go down to training with each other. We would always head down earlier and it was my job to bring the balls down to the pitch. He set up the cones and I'd practice kicking; it became part of the routine. It was so nice that the year we won he was involved as well. It was really special.’
