ÉABHA O’Donovan had a pep in her step at work on Friday morning – just hours after kicking five points as Cork’s minor footballers booked their place in the All-Ireland U18A final later this month.
Even though she arrived back in Skibbereen around 3am following the long trip home from the semi-final win in Banagher in Offaly, Éabha was working at Hegarty’s Costcutter in town by 10am.
‘Winning makes it easier,’ the Skibbereen teen smiled, reflecting on Cork’s dominant 3-12 to 0-10 semi-final victory over Cavan that has set up an All-Ireland final against Dublin on July 26th.
‘We really did perform as well as we could,’ the O’Donovan Rossa footballer added.
‘We got two goals early on and that settled us. It was the ideal start and allowed us to play our football. We knew we would create opportunities, and it was about taking them.’
Goals from Aoibhe Sheehan and Laura Walsh gave Cork a platform to build on – and they did. The young Rebels, captained by Skibbereen’s Allie Tobin in defence, led by six at the break, 2-7 to 0-7. Ilen Rovers forward Kate Carey was also on target in the opening half and finished with 0-2.
When Ava McAuliffe scored Cork’s third goal early in the second half, the lead swelled to 10 points – 3-9 to 0-8. The Munster champions had one foot in the final but didn’t let up, even as Cavan fought to stay in it.
Despite Cork’s last championship outing being back on May 3rd – a hammering of Kerry in the Munster final – there were no signs of rust.
‘It was a long break, but the management did so well to keep us playing games. As good as training is, you need games to stay sharp. How we managed that break really helped us,’ Éabha explained.
‘We were really well prepared. We played a load of challenge matches – against the likes of Galway and other county teams, as well as clubs like Éire Óg, Mourneabbey and Glanmire.’
For Éabha and Allie Tobin, the All-Ireland final offers the chance to complete a remarkable hat-trick of All-Ireland titles – having already won an All-Ireland junior club title with O’Donovan Rossa and an All-Ireland schools title with Skibbereen Community School. (Kate Carey was also on that school's team.)
But the focus is firmly on producing another performance.
‘It’s a big game. Dublin will be very strong, so we’ll need to play our best to get the result we want,’ said Éabha, who is relishing this journey with the Cork minors.
‘We all love playing together and we push each other to get the best out of ourselves. Playing with good players improves your own game because you need to raise your level – and that makes the team better.’
With the Cork attack brimming with talent – including Éabha, Kate Carey, Laura Walsh (who scored 1-3 against Cavan and 2-8 in the Munster final), and Ava McAuliffe (who has senior inter-county experience) – they carry a serious scoring threat.
But the defence deserves recognition too: Cork have kept clean sheets in four of their seven championship games and haven’t conceded more than 11 scores in any of them.
The shared hope? The best is yet to come.
