Dohenys footballers hope to go the extra mile this season
Dohenys full-back Sean Daly links up with his goalkeeper Stephen Daly to clear against Beál Áthan Ghaorthaidh last season. Picture: Larry Cummins
AHEAD of this year’s county draws, Declan O’Dwyer is looking forward to managing Dohenys in the Bon Secours Senior A Football Championship.
The rookie manager oversaw a positive first campaign in charge of his native Dunmanway GAA club in 2021. Dohenys emerged from a difficult group and took a major scalp before losing narrowly in the county semi-finals.
So, it is clear that O’Dwyer’s young panel will be a handful for whoever they face in the 2022 SAFC. The likes of Cullen Barry, Keith White, Sean Daly, Cathal O’Donovan, Eoin Lavers and Johnny Kelly will be all the better for their experiences in last year’s championship. Add in the presence of current Cork panellists Mark Buckley and Fionn Herlihy and Dohenys have every reason to be positive about their upcoming campaign.
Manager Declan O’Dwyer is well aware that there is little margin for error when it comes to winning and losing in one of the most competitive of all Cork GAA’s club championships.
“You set out your goals at the start of every season but realistically, things are so close nowadays, that it is all about getting out of your group,” O’Dwyer told .
“After that, you and your players do your best to move on from there. The senior A is such a brilliant championship right now because there are so many quality teams involved.
"That tells you the difficult group we could end up getting with and the depth of quality in senior A. You also have Ilen Rovers playing senior A so that means you could have a few west Cork derbies thrown in there as well.”
Dohenys’ 2021 championship didn’t get off to the best of starts following a 2-14 to 1-8 defeat to Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh. The Carbery club bounced back in style by overcoming O’Donovan Rossa by six points and securing a place in the knockout stages thanks to a 0-14 to 0-8 victory over Bandon.
Knocknagree were Dohenys’ opponents in the last eight where, once again, the west Cork club built on the momentum of their previous two wins and registered a 1-12 to 0-7 success.
Disappointingly, Dohenys' hopes of reaching a SAFC county final were thwarted by St Michael’s in the penultimate round. Páirc Uí Chaoimh played host to a thriller in which Mark Drummond’s goal proved decisive in a 1-14 to 0-15 Michael’s victory after extra-time.
Those encouraging end-of-season displays, more than anything else, underlined the importance to Declan O’Dwyer of getting your campaign off to a positive start.
“I know we didn’t manage it last year, losing our first game to Ballingeary, and that is not the situation any team wants to be in,” the Dohenys manager commented.
“You want to be winning that first game. It really just a case of trying to get out of your group and hoping you build enough momentum from there. We certainly managed that last year, beating Bandon, Skibbereen and then Knocknagree. There is no doubt about it but it is going to be just as tough again this year.”
No one is happier to see two of Dohenys’ most consistent performers, Mark Buckley and Fionn Herlihy, feature in Keith Ricken’s Cork squad.
Both players played vital roles in the Dunmanway club’s run to last year’s SAFC semi-finals and are expected to feature prominently over the coming months.
“It is brilliant to see both of those lads in there with the Cork seniors at the moment,” commented O’Dwyer.
“We were only talking about Mark and Fionn at training the other night in that I don’t remember the last time Dohenys had two players involved with Cork at the same time.
“It is a huge boost for the club and credit to the lads for making the National League panel.
O’Dwyer is entering his second year at the helm of the Dohenys senior footballers. The momentum gained from reaching last year’s SAFC county semi-finals coupled with an improving panel suggests the Dunmanway club will be in the mix for senior A honours once again this year.
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