Roy O'Donovan on Cork City's league win: 'There were moments in that game I felt untouchable'

League Of Ireland Premier Division Turner’s Cross, November 18, 2005

Cork City 2 Derry City 0

HONESTLY, IT WAS very special.

It was my first year as a first team player. I had come back from England as an 18-year-old disillusioned with why hadn’t I made it cross channel? I got an opportunity to play for my hometown team, so it meant a hell of a lot to me to play with Cork City, in front of my family and my friends.

For that whole year, the way that it went... I got a go in the team, and I played quite well. Turner’s Cross was bouncing, I can still feel the energy now. It makes the hairs on the back of the neck stand up. It was an unbelievably special game and moment in my career. It was just a truly terrific end to what was a wonderful year in Cork City’s history.

I genuinely say this, and I don’t say this for a soundbite, I didn’t sense any doubt in our mind that at Turner’s Cross we weren’t going to get the job done. It was just an air of invincibility and positivity about us that week.

I would find it hard to pinpoint why, but we just that confidence. It was a buzz leading up to that game for a couple of weeks in Cork.

Personally, I felt really good in the game. I felt very fit, and I felt very strong. I was full of confidence at the time. When we opened the scoring, I put a cross in for John O’Flynn. As soon as it left my foot and the area that it was in, there was only going to be one outcome.

I think after we scored that first goal, we played some very fluid football. We passed the ball really well and played an attacking style that everybody enjoyed right throughout the league watching.

After the game, I just never forget the emotion. As a manager it was Damien Richardson’s first League of Ireland title. He is someone that had an attachment to the league for 40 years, with his own father being a coach of St Pat’s, as well.

For him to win his first league trophy for Cork City was special for him and it was special for us. But I always just remember Derek Coughlan being lifted on people’s shoulders.

We were all standing on the wall facing the old Shed. You just don’t get moments like that anymore and probably will never get a moment like that again.

It is very hard to appreciate how special it was.

Within the game, my own performance... I just remember every time I got the ball, I could feel a sense of excitement from the crowd. I tried to play my game with a bit of freedom as a winger. I was making a lot of mazy runs. I was unlucky not to score, but I was creating chances.

I set up the first goal and I had a part in the second goal that Liam Kearney scored. There were a few moments in the game that, really, I felt just untouchable.

In my career, there have been a few times where things have happened in a game that I didn’t realise or remember until I watched the footage back later.

Maybe that’s the definition of being in the zone... when you read books and hear athletes being in the zone. There are certain times of your career when you get into it and I was definitely in the zone that night.

SECOND CHANCE

I had my balloon popped a little bit leaving England. I still thought that I had plenty to offer, and my talent wasn’t utilised enough and all that. The best thing that ever happened in my career was the opportunity to represent Cork City.

I was a fan growing up and I got to play for Cork City at a time when it was a special time to be involved. It was a special group and the success that we had in the space of 12 months, it changed my outlook and my life. I will be forever grateful for it.

Cork City was my grounding. I think that you can learn all you want in the youth teams, and you can learn all you want in underage football, but ultimately men’s football is different and that is why only 0.001% of people go on to make a game of it in the men’s game. It is different to kids’ football... it is completely different to the academy.

You learn to toughen up quick, and it is sink or swim. Cork City taught me how to swim.

The last six years in Australia have been very enjoyable. A great challenge and a great standard of football. The life-balance in Australia... with the sunshine. I am one of the all-time top scorers in the A League here, as well. It is a part of my career in my thirties that I have had a bit of a resurgence as such.

Playing in the Premier League at Sunderland under Roy Keane was another special time in my career. I got to play against the best in the business.

I represented Ireland at various times in my life, and it was always very special to hear the national anthem play. But Cork City is a time in my career I hold very dear. It holds a very important part in my foundations as a football player.