St Oliver Plunkett's won the double - but won't stop there

ST Oliver Plunkett’s are one of the many double success stories we’ve seen this year in Cork GAA. Of course, Newcestown and Aghabullogue are the more talked about – given they won the double in Senior A and Intermediate A respectively.

What the Ahiohill based club have achieved in the confined Junior B championships in both hurling and football is worth a mention.

Plunkett’s Junior B football manager Margaret Keohane looks back on what has been an incredible season for the club – but it’s not over yet. They still have a chance to write history in the All-Ireland Junior B hurling and football championships.

They’ve started well, beating Waterford’s De La Salle 1-15 to 0-6 in the Munster hurling quarter final. They’ll return to action in January, but training will not cease.

“The first round of the hurling was on over a week ago now, so they were concentrating on the hurling,” Keohane begins. “After we finished up the football in west Cork, they just took fortnight off, and then went back into the hurling.

“It’s been confirmed now that neither hurling our football will be on again until January. So, I think we're going to do maybe every second week now just for a couple of weeks. The lads decided themselves they wanted to keep going, keep training, without taking a break on this side of Christmas, and to us that's all very positive.

“Injury wise, there’s one or two lads out now, but hopefully the bit of time now will give them a chance to get right and get a bit of training before the next match.” 

Reflecting on what has been a remarkable season for the club, Margaret remarks; “It just worked out with the Junior B from the beginning of the year. We had a calendar for the whole year really, up to county final dates and everything.

“It was easy to plan at the start and it kind of worked out every second week. There is a good relationship there between the management teams and good communication and it worked well all year.

DETERMINATION

“It was amazing to win the double. It was what we talked about at the start of the year. It was amazing that they pulled it off, but they deserved it, they really did.

“When you see the work they're putting in, in January and February in the muck, the dark nights, and the rain,” Keohane says. “This time last year, they were doing their own work in the gym and with what they put into it really, they deserved it.

“For the club, it was a massive achievement. I was probably one of the luckiest people in the parish just to be involved in it.

I really think it was the work that the lads put in. This time last year, it was put to them. They believed in themselves, and they knew they could do it.

“From the football side of it, there was only one point in the semi-final, there was only one point in the final. They had to work hard for it, and I suppose in those matches, their fitness maybe was the difference in the last 10 minutes of those games.

“They had really good fitness built up and that may have been the difference.

“I suppose the other thing, we had a good mix of youth and experience as well on the team, and that probably stood to them.

“Some of the lads that were playing, were playing the last time they won the football Junior B in 2007, and then there was a couple of lads who’d just done their leaving cert as well.

“So, it was a nice balance between the young lads and the more experienced lads throughout the team.” 

The Ahiohill outfit did fall short in the West Cork Junior B Football Championship final, losing out to Goleen in October.

“The way the match went,” Keohane begins. “It was an awful way to lose. Up five points and 10 minutes to go, and to lose the match by two points – it was an awful pity.

“It really would have been the icing on the cake for the year that we were having, and after all the work the lads had put into the year, they would have really deserved it.

“But taking nothing from Goleen – they kept going to the end and fair play to them.” 

Certainly, it was a sting for Plunkett’s. However, it has been a remarkable 2023 season, and the club will look for redemption with their All-Ireland endeavours in both codes next year.