Clonakilty ladies footballers target more silverware in 2022

THE Clonakilty ladies football team who won the 2020 intermediate county title were recently presented with their county medals at a function held in the Fernhill House Hotel.

Clonakilty defeated Glanmire in the 2020 intermediate final which ensured their promotion to the senior ranks. Clare O’Leary captained the team to county final glory and said the medal presentation was a great occasion. 

“The recent medal presentation was a lovely event. It was nice to celebrate a great year. It was nice for everyone who contributed to our successful season to meet up again as a group,” she said.

The talented midfielder said the social event also enabled the club to acknowledge everyone who contributed to their successful 2020 season. 

“We got so much support that year and it was great to show our appreciation to all after a great season. It was great to see all the parents, and everyone associated with the club who helped us throughout that season.” 

Clonakilty ladies footballers will once again be competing in the senior ranks this season. They are scheduled to begin their league campaign in mid-April. Clare said the players are currently easing their way back into a training regime. 

“We started back training recently. We have had a few training sessions. We are only training once a week as a lot of the players are away with college and work commitments. The first league game is down to be played on April 17. We will be building towards that date. We are drawn to play against Glanmire, Bride Rovers, Aghada, Mourneabbey, and Valley Rovers.” 

Clonakilty will be going into this year’s league and championship campaign with generally the same squad of players from last year’s campaign. One notable absentee however is Cork City player Orlaith Deasy who is concentrating full-time on her soccer commitments. The teenager who struck two goals in the 2020 county final will be missed. 

We have a strong panel of players. We have a good mixture of experience and youth. We pretty much have the same squad of players with a couple of new additions. 

"The league will be a good chance for new players to come in and get experience. We have lost Orlaith Deasy however who is concentrating on soccer. She is a loss as she is a fine player. We will be able to call on the four players who made the Cork minor team. They are very exciting players with lots of potential.” 

PRIORITY

Clonakilty will be hoping to unearth a few more players during this year’s league campaign as they attempt to build a squad capable of mounting a sustained bid for a successful season. Clare said they were guilty of focusing too much on the league last year. 

“We are looking forward to the season ahead. We would be hopeful of enjoying a good championship season. 

"I think we focused too much on the league last year. We made the league final against Mourneabbey which was great, but I feel we peaked too early last year. We were wrecked after the league campaign, so we took a break, but we were still tired going into the championship.

“Our coach Iain O’Driscoll has said we will be trying out more players during this year’s league campaign and we will be focusing very much on the championship. Our aim is to have a good run in the championship this year. 

"The standard is very strong however with so many good teams competing to win the championship title. Ladies' football in Cork is very strong which is great to see. Locally all the teams in West Cork are also getting stronger. Valley Rovers, Dohenys, and Castlehaven are all doing so well,” she added.

Iain O’Driscoll and Colm Sheehy are guiding the Clonakilty senior ladies footballers this year. 

“They are very good to work with. Iain was involved as our strength and conditioning coach in 2020 and we were so fit thanks to him. Colm is a great addition. They complement each other very well. 

"They have great experience and knowledge. Colm has lots of experience built up working with developing players at underage level. All the players are loving the training sessions.” 

The experienced midfielder still loves representing her club to the best of her ability. She said there is a huge collective effort within the club to ensure the club can push on for more success. 

When I first started playing with Clon, we were a junior team and we won the junior All-Ireland. We were then promoted to senior football which was probably too much of a jump for us at the time. 

"We went back down to the intermediate grade and we won this county title in 2020 so we are now back up senior again which is great. There are also still girls playing from when I first joined the adult team which is great.

“There are so many people doing great work behind the scenes. They deserve so much credit for driving things on. The players are also great to drive things on as well. 

"Our new captain Jenny Quinn is also the secretary, while Ciara Ryan and I are the joint PROs. There is a great spirit in the club. We are all keen to push the club on and achieve more success."