Cork City's U15 cup triumph at Turner's Cross was special explains Paul O’Brien
European Commissioner-Designate Michael McGrath presents the U15 Cup to Cork City captain Joe Miskella. Picture: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
An entire season came down to a penalty shoot-out for Cork City and the Rebel Army held their nerve to defeat St Patrick’s Athletic in the MU15 LOI Michael Hayes Cup final at Turner’s Cross.
The home side actually took the lead that day in extra-time through Ben Dumigan and the Dubliners forced spot-kicks with a late-late equaliser.
A race turned into a marathon in a matter of minutes and the Rebel Army won the shoot-out 2-0 in front of their own supporters.
It was a massive result against one of the best academies in the country, made even better by the game being held at Turner’s Cross.
Paul O’Brien was a member of the coaching staff with the club’s U15s, and he cannot stop smiling when thinking back to that Sunday afternoon at the home of football in Cork.
“That was the icing on the cake and the cherry on top [doing it at Turner’s Cross], to be able to do it with their own families in the stadium.
"The home of the first team after they won their trophy, the First Division, and getting it on Friday night. They got their trophy on the Sunday. It was a great weekend for the club.”
To make this happen, O’Brien spent countless hours working with Stephen O’Mahony, Joe Buckley, Tiwani Akinlabi, and Anthony Griffin.
“This is the joys of management with Steve being the manager,” he said. “We sat down three weeks before the match, knowing that it was coming, and analysed the two games we played against Pats.
"We were lucky to get video footage of other matches that Pats played and analysed that. We saw their strengths and weaknesses.
“We emphasised the training sessions in the week and a half before that and the tactics that we deployed for the game.”
What got it over the line was the level of fitness in the squad as it allowed them to keep up with The Saints for 120 minutes.
This went back to the training ground and the program put together by Liam Kearney, the club’s Head of Academy.
“That goes back to the club with Damien Coleman – who is head of Strength and Conditioning and Eoin Clifford who was with us for the majority of the season working with the lads on their strength and conditioning and their fitness,” he said.
“That was part of our weekly sessions, strength and conditioning and our fitness. Then we’d go into game scenarios.
What happens next is open to debate as the team is finishing up ahead of the winter break.
This involves the coaches relaxing for a bit before getting the signal to return to work, which could mean working with a new team or back with the U15s. The system is one of the most successful in the country as it has made Cork City a name synonymous with youth and talent.
The names of recent graduates are a testament to that, with the group including three current senior Republic of Ireland internationals, Chiedozie Ogbene, Jake O’Brien, and Alan Browne.
Among the newest generation are Brighton & Hove Albion’s Mark O’Mahony, Crystal Palace’s Franco Umeh, and his brother at Benfica, Jaden.
O’Brien is part of the ecosystem that helped create those players and now it is all about looking ahead to 2025.
“That depends on Liam Kearney and where he wants to put the coaches,” he went through what happens next. Does he want to move around the coaches? Does he want to keep the same coaches in the same spot?
"That is in the hands of Liam and what he wants to do. Liam is very hands-on. We train three nights and he is there three nights a week talking to us.
"He’s in constant contact with Steve, the manager, about players that are doing well and players are improving every week.
"As the session goes, he will make it his business to come over and have a chat with all the coaches about what he feels we have to work on.
"He’ll help us by giving us ideas and throwing his thoughts into the conversation about how he can fix things.”
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