‘It’s like Tír na nÓg here, the lads are flying,’ says Skibb boss

O’DONOVAN ROSSA have something in common with their Bon Secours Senior A FC Group A opponents on Saturday, Knocknagree – both teams lost to eventual champions St Michael’s last season.

While the Skibb team were beaten in the semi-finals, Knocknagree were defeated in the final itself, as Michael’s won promotion.

‘We wouldn’t say no to a county at this stage. Our philosophy is one game at a time and one training session at a time. We don’t look beyond that generally,’ Rossas manager Gene O’Donovan explained ahead of their opening game in Macroom on Saturday, at 3pm.

‘Our bigger goal would be to at least reach Páirc Uí Chaoimh again. We enjoyed our trip there last year. I think the boys enjoyed that experience, even the older lads. A lot of them hadn’t played in the new stadium before. 

‘We won’t even talk about shortcuts to the semi-finals. If we can get out of the group and survive at this level, that would be good for us.’

Premier IFC victors Kanturk and Fermoy complete Rossa’s tough group. Each of the three games are going to be challenging outings, starting with Saturday.

‘This group is so uncertain but if you’re going out to win the county, these are the challenges you have to face. Knocknagree were knocking on the door a long time and deserved to be in the final last year. Like ourselves, they came up against a very good St Michael’s team,’ O’Donovan said.

All of Skibb’s main players are there this year, including Donal Óg Hodnett, Kevin Davis and David Shannon. They also have Sean Fitzgerald back for this year, who played with John McBrides in Chicago last summer and contributed in getting McBrides to the Chicago SFC semi-finals.

‘We have everybody off the table but not everybody would exactly be 100 percent match-fit. We had lads travelling, but they’re back. We have a strong panel and have the headache you’d like in picking a panel,’ the Rossa manager added.

‘I think we’re a bit stronger than we were last year, we should have a stronger bench moving forward and that’s what we’re trying to aim for.’

Duhallow side Knocknagree have three inter-county players in their ranks. Daniel O’Mahony, Eoghan McSweeney and goalkeeper Patrick Doyle are all players to watch but O’Donovan believes in his team.

‘I think Knocknagree should be worried about our players too. You look at our older players, they’re only old in age. It’s like Tír na nÓg here, the lads are flying in training,’ the Skibb boss added.