GLANMIRE 3-8

O'DONOVAN ROSSA 2-5

GER McCARTHY REPORTS

O’DONOVAN Rossa never recovered from the concession of three goals inside the opening quarter of the Cork LGFA senior B final.

It left the Skibbereen team, in their first senior county decider, with too big a mountain to climb, as Glanmire’s fast start gave them the platform to triumph at MTU Cork on Sunday.

Though they gave their all, Rossas’ flat start and defensive frailties allowed a talented Glanmire attack to run riot during those opening 15 minutes.

Admirably, Fionnuala O’Driscoll and Emer McCarthy goals brought the Skibbereen side to within four points of their opponents in the second half. But an inability to score during the final quarter saw Glanmire run out deserving winners.

Despite the loss, it’s worth remembering that this is O’Donovan Rossa’s first year in the senior grade. Qualifying for a county final represents steady progress.

O'Donovan Rossa's Fionnuala O'Driscoll battles with Glanmire's Aoife Treacy.

‘Glanmire started very strongly and we just probably weren’t up to the pace of it for the first ten minutes,’ O’Donovan Rossa manager James O’Donovan told The Southern Star.

‘Conceding those three early goals was a setback. The girls, in fairness to them, battled hard for the rest of the game. It was nip and tuck and we were right there with them.

‘It was just those initial goals that really caught us in the end.’

O’Donovan’s sentiments were echoed by Rossas captain Laura O’Mahony.

‘We started poor enough by our standards,’ the Cork senior admitted.

‘Three goals … no matter how much time we had, that’s nine points we had to claw back to make it even, never mind getting on top.

‘After that bad start, we had a mountain to climb. That’s something we’ll look at for next year, but, obviously, we are all disappointed.’

Glanmire got off to the best possible start by racking up an unanswered 2-2 inside the first five minutes. Niamh McAllen opened the scoring in the game’s first attack prior to Ally McCarthy capitalising on a turnover from a Skibbereen kick out to find the bottom corner of the net.

Rossas struggled to contain McAllen as the electric centre forward promptly found the net and added a point for good measure to make it 2-2 to 0-0.

Creditably, the West Cork side steadied the ship in the face of incessant Glanmire pressure. Éabha O’Donovan fired over two frees to temporarily stop the rot. But a rampant Glanmire responded immediately. A move that began deep in their own half ended with Ava Fitzgerald slaloming through for her team’s third goal after 12 minutes.

Once again O’Donovan Rossa mustered a response. Enjoying their first period of sustained possession, Kate O’Donovan’s long delivery was palmed to the net by Fionnuala O’Driscoll.

It was their opponents who led 3-4 to 1-3 at the break however, following Niamh McAllen and Ríona Crowley (free) efforts to end a dominant Glanmire first half display.

Evie Twomey and Orlaith Roche points sandwiched a fine Orla McCarthy effort for O’Donovan Rossa during a hectic start to the second period.

Éabha O’Donovan reduced the deficit from a free as the Skibbereen side enjoyed a purple patch. That period was highlighted by a tremendous Emer McCarthy goal – the wing-back came up from defence and found the top corner with a thunderous shot from a tight angle. That brought the gap back to four points. Suddenly the Rossas supporters believed an unlikely turnaround might be on the cards.

O'Donovan Rossa's Sineád Farrell in action.

Glanmire remained calm. with an Aishling McAllen free and an Ava Fitzgerald point in successive attacks making it 3-8 to 2-5 heading into the closing minutes.

Fitzgerald was yellow carded right at the death but it didn’t matter as Glanmire saw out the remaining time to deservedly be crowned senior B county champions.

Despite Sunday’s disappointing loss, in which the concession of three early goals proved fatal, there is much for O’Donovan Rossa to look forward to in 2026 and beyond.

‘This time last year, we lost a few girls to Australia and others away travelling which took its toll on our team,’ Laura O’Mahony concluded.

‘That has left room for the younger girls to push on. Orla McCarthy, Aoife O’Driscoll and Eadoin Fitzgerald have stood up as leaders, so we’ll build on that.

‘Our U14 team won the county A title this year, we'll have those players to look forward to coming through in a few years as well.’

Scorers 

Glanmire: Niamh McAllen 1-3; Ava Fitzgerald 1-1; Ally McCarthy 1-0; Riona Crowley (1f), Aishling McAllen (1f), Evie Twomey, Orlaith Roche 0-1 each.

O’Donovan Rossa: Éabha O’Donovan 0-4 (4f); Fionnuala O’Driscoll, Emer McCarthy 1-0 each; Orla McCarthy 0-1.

Glanmire: Caoimhe Richmond; Claire Murphy, Gabrielle Cashman, Ellen Baker; Clodagh O’Donovan, Michelle Barry, Ava Fitzgerald; Olivia McAllen, Abbie O’Mahony; Aoife Treacy, Niamh McAllen, Keeley Goggin; Riona Crowley, Evie Twomey, Ally McCarthy (captain).

Subs: E Twomey for C Murphy (30), O Roche for K Goggin (ht), A McAllen for R Crowley (35), K O’Connor for C O’Donovan (38), R Crowley for A Treacy (55, head inj), K Goggin for A McCarthy (55).

O’Donovan Rossa: Tara O’Regan; Fiona Leonard, Allie Tobin, Eadaoin Fitzgerald; Trina Murphy, Sarah Hurley, Emer McCarthy; Laura O’Mahony (captain), Mallaidh O’Neill; Orla McCarthy, Sinéad Farrell, Aoife O’Driscoll; Éabha O’Donovan, Kate O’Donovan, Fionnuala O’Driscoll.

Subs: Ellen Healy for K O’Donovan (ht), Emily O’Donovan for S Farrell (55).

Referee: Justin Murphy (Grange).