FOR the first time since 2019, Ilen Rovers are back in a county championship quarter-final. Back then, under the old format, they contested a senior football (now premier senior) quarter-final against Newcestown.

Fast forward to 2025 and the men from Baltimore are preparing for an Intermediate A Football Championship knockout clash against Mitchelstown in Newcestown this Saturday (4.30pm) – a sign of how much progress they have made this season.

Between 2021 and 2024, Ilen endured a desperate run: three relegations and just one championship win across four campaigns. This year, however, they finished second in their group on five points, a dramatic turnaround that has lifted confidence.

‘This is where you want to be. We weren’t looking all year to this – we just took it one game at a time. Obviously, the group stage went well for us. It’s a shorter turnaround than previous championship games, but we’re looking forward to it,’ Ilen boss Flor O’Driscoll told The Southern Star.

‘I think it starts from the league. We were competitive in every league game. It even starts before that with training, which has been very good. People wanted to make amends this year. Then, when you start getting results, you start enjoying it. We have to keep that momentum going.’

Momentum has been the theme. Ilen built steadily through the group phase, growing in confidence with each outing.

‘We knew at the start of the year that it would be a very tough group. There was always going to be a very small margin between a bad and good championship campaign. The most pleasing game for us was the Boherbue game (winning 1-12 to 0-12) because we hadn’t won a championship game in a while, so to pull through against a very good team was great.

‘Kilmurry was a decent performance (drawing 1-14 apiece). We were disappointed with some aspects but overall the work-rate was fantastic. We played very well. Vincent’s, even though they were struggling, was always going to be difficult for stages (winning 1-14 to 1-5). Having the character to come through was very good,’ O’Driscoll said.

Ilen Rovers' manager Florence O'Driscoll.

Even though their final group game ended in a comfortable nine-point win, O’Driscoll insists there is room to improve. Against a side of Mitchelstown’s calibre, he knows Ilen must raise their standards again.

‘To be honest, I don’t think it (the Vincent’s game) was our best performance, especially in the first half. If I was impressed with anything, it was that we knew at half-time we could do much better, and it really pleased me the way they responded in the second half.

‘They took control of the game and showed a desire to win. They were brave to go out and take the game on even more. By the end of the game, we were well in control which was very pleasing.’

Squad news has been encouraging. Shane Carey, sidelined long term, made his comeback in the win over Vincent’s, though Peter and Kevin O’Driscoll remain unavailable. Still, Ilen retain real quality in players like Adrian O’Driscoll and Dan MacEoin.

Their opponents, however, bring serious pedigree. Mitchelstown boast two Cork senior footballers – Cathail O’Mahony and Seán Walsh – and speculation is growing that AFL player Mark Keane could soon line out again for the North Cork club.

‘They have experience of getting into these situations in the last number of years, and that will stand to them,’ O’Driscoll admitted. ‘The other factor is we’re not familiar with playing each other. We met earlier in the year in the league, but both sides were missing a lot of players. That was the last league game as well, with nothing at stake. Other than that, I don’t think we’ve ever played them before. I suppose there’s a bit of an unknown factor there.’

After years of setbacks, Ilen now have a chance to measure themselves in the championship’s knockout stages. How far they can go will depend on whether their new-found confidence can withstand its toughest test yet.