St Michael’s 2-21
O’Donovan Rossa 2-11
JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS
O’DONOVAN Rossa manager Gene O’Donovan had no complaints with his side’s Bons Secours Hospital Cork SAFC semi-final defeat to St Michael’s, but he hopes that the campaign has laid a foundation upon which to build.
The Skibbereen club lost by ten points – a slightly unfair margin – to last year’s beaten finalists, who benefited from a pair of second-half goals in quick succession to put the matter beyond doubt. Prior to that, Skibb had recovered from a six-point deficit as half-time approached to trail by just one early in the second half.
While David Shannon did pull a late goal back for Skibb, a comeback was beyond them. O’Donovan felt that his team were closer to Michael’s than the scoreline suggested, but he congratulated the city side, who now face Knocknagree in the final.
‘They’re a good side but they’re not that much over us,’ Gene O’Donovan said.
‘The goals were a killer but you must remember, Michael’s have been here before.
‘I’m a huge believer in – and I said it to the boys on Saturday – that luck comes from hard work and Michael’s worked hard to get where they are. I wouldn’t begrudge them for a second.
‘Our fitness wouldn’t be anywhere near what theirs is, to be quite honest. We’ve fellas that died out there for the shirt but Michael’s know how to play the Páirc.
‘Themselves and ourselves are probably two of the higher-scoring teams in the championship – 2-11 we scored and that’ll win a lot of championship games.
‘That’s the trend we’ve been going for most of the year – more scorers, more scores. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen on Saturday, the luck wasn’t with us but I applaud Michael’s.
‘They were talking about their strength and conditioning prior to the game and it showed there on Saturday.
‘It’s probably one of the hardest championships to actually win.’
O'Donovan Rossas' David Shannon breaks past the challenge of Daniel Meaney in the Bon Secours Senior A Football Championship semi-final.
Dual star Robbie Cotter excelled throughout for Michael’s and he scored three early points as they moved 0-4 to 0-1 ahead. Skibb were reliant on frees from Kevin Davis for much of the first half, his fourth of the game leaving them 0-7 to 0-5 behind, but the city side then tacked on four in a row to suggest they might ease clear. Instead, Skibb got themselves right back in it.
Centre-back Paudie Crowley’s drive forward was key as he linked with Davis and Niall Daly and, then, as he sent a low ball across goal, Dylan Hourihane was able to fire home for close range.
An 0-11 to 1-5 interval deficit contracted further as Dónal Óg Hodnett and Davis pointed, but Skibb couldn’t find an equaliser.
Michael’s had scoring threats everywhere and they pushed 0-16 to 1-10 in front as the final quarter dawned, before an unanswered 2-3 provided an air of finality.
Cotter and sub Eoin O’Donovan got the goals and, though Skibb never gave in, there was too much to overhaul. Nevertheless, O’Donovan is hopeful that, if the group can stay together, Skibb can improve.
‘We’ll sit down and review it,’ he said.
‘I’ve a great team around me – not just the players but a good management team and a good backroom team.
‘My first priority will be to try to meet with them over the next couple of weeks and make sure I can secure them – that’s if I keep the job, but I think the chairman is after assuring me of that already!
‘Then we can look at what we have with the players and go from there.
‘We lost a good few players this year – one of two of them would have come off the bench there on Saturday and made a difference.
‘It’s a learning process. This is my first year involved in senior management, Daniel Cronin the Cork minor coach there with me – it’s an experience for us all, we’re all learning together.’
Scorers - St Michael’s: Robbie Cotter 1-6 (2f); Adam Hennessy 0-4; Eoin O'Donovan 1-1; Eric Hegarty, Luke O'Herlihy 0-3 each; Tom Lenihan, Peter Cunningham, Daniel Meaney, Andrew Murphy 0-1 each. O’Donovan Rossa: Kevin Davis 0-5 (4f); Dylan Hourihane 1-2; David Shannon 1-1; Dónal Óg Hodnett 0-2; Thomas Hegarty 0-1.
St Michael’s: Martin Burke; Dylan Corkery, Seán Keating, Peter Cunningham; Tom Lenihan, Joe Golden, Alan O’Callaghan; Andrew Murphy, Daniel Meaney; Eoin Hickey, Keith Hegarty, Dan Lenihan; Adam Hennessy, Robbie Cotter, Eric Hegarty. Subs: Liam O’Herlihy for Hickey (7, injured), Billy Cain for Murphy (33, injured), Eoin O’Donovan for Dan Lenihan (43), Mark O’Keeffe for O’Herlihy (59, injured).
O’Donovan Rossa: Ryan Price; Dylan O’Donovan, Darren Daly, Brian Minihane; Mark Collins, Paudie Crowley, Kevin Hurley; Rory Byrne, Dónal Óg Hodnett; Niall Daly, David Shannon, Elliot Connolly; Dylan Hourihane, Kevin Davis, Thomas Hegarty. Subs: Oisín Lucey for O’Donovan (half-time), Brian Crowley for Elliot Connolly (39), Daniel Hazel for Collins (44), Luke Connolly for Niall Daly (51), Eoghan O’Connell for Hegarty (57).
Referee: John Ryan (Macroom).
