‘All I wanted for Christmas was the All-Ireland medal – and we have that now!’

BY KIERAN McCARTHY

CHRISTMAS shopping has been down Kate O’Donovan’s list of priorities these last few weeks, and for an understandable reason – she was chasing the present she wanted the most.

On Sunday, the O’Donovan Rossa forward got her hands on the All-Ireland junior club football trophy, and it made all the hard work this season worthwhile.

She describes the homecoming in Skibbereen as ‘the best night’ of her life, but admits, too, that she will be in a race against time to catch up on Christmas shopping.

Kate O'Donovan (left) celebrates with Éabha O'Donovan after her crucial late goal in the All-Ireland final.
(Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile)

‘I can’t believe it’s Christmas week,’ she says, ‘our run has really shortened the winter.

‘I have no Christmas shopping done, but all I wanted for Christmas was the All-Ireland medal and, thank God, we have that now.

‘I hope everyone won’t be too disappointed that I have no Christmas shopping done yet!’ she laughed, but O’Donovan and her team-mates delivered a season that will long in the memory. Cork champions. Munster champions. All-Ireland champions. It doesn’t get any better than that.

‘The homecoming in Skibb on Sunday night was absolutely magical,’ the Leap woman says, ‘We didn’t realise how big the crowd was until we got up on the trailer, and just to look out at the crowd and see the flags waving and the people cheering, it was incredible.’

That connection between this all-conquering Rossas team and the town has been evident all the way through this run to glory. Think of the Munster final against Clounmacon-Moyvane, and the Skibb support that thronged Mallow. In their All-Ireland quarter-final on a Saturday morning in November, that support was there. The home All-Ireland semi-final at Rossa Park will live long in the memory. And when this team needed a push to take that final step on Sunday, their fans turned up the volume again.

‘When we went one point down inside the final ten minutes the crowd lifted us, there was a Rossas chant and I had never heard anything so loud in my life. That drove us on, to dig deep, to do this for ourselves and for the fans,’ O’Donovan explains.

‘It wasn't the best football that we have played this season and we did make it hard work for ourselves, but we got the result that mattered. It was an incredible day, the atmosphere there was electric and the Skibb crowd were superb; they have been with us every step of the way. It was great to be able to do this for them as well and bring the cup back to Skibbereen and have a great night of celebration.’

Central to those celebrations was Éabha O’Donovan’s goal in the 54th minute. The Rossas had just fallen behind and needed a response. Éabha’s namesake Kate played a key role, assisting the goal that won the final.

‘When I saw Emma Hurley tearing down the middle of the field I thought this was an opportunity to do something and hit Claremorris hard,’ the Skibbereen Community School teacher says.

‘When I got the ball from Emma (Hurley), I saw Éabha out of the corner of my eye, she had cut in, and there is no better woman to finish the job. She got around three defenders to score, it was an amazing goal and we’re so proud of her.

‘I felt like we needed a goal, they were coming at us hard, and it was just what we needed to take control again.’

There was no stopping Skibb after that, as Kate O’Donovan and the Rossas finished a dream season in style. Now it’s time to celebrate and, if she finds the time this week, squeeze into some last-minute Christmas shopping.