Pain of defeat is driving Kilmacabea's county mission
Kilmacabea captain Diarmuid O’Callaghan clears upfield as Aaron Draper gives chase. Picture: Martin Walsh.
West Cork Junior A Football champions and McCarthy Insurance Group junior A county semi-finalists Kilmacabea are using last year’s disappointment to fuel their current campaign.
Crestfallen Kilmacabea supporters and players could only look on as Barryroe captain David O’Sullivan held aloft the famous Mick McCarthy Cup having achieved Bandon Co-op Carbery junior A football glory.
A well-known hurling enclave of West Cork, Barryroe’s first divisional JAFC success was greeted with appropriately wild celebrations that went on for some time. Those scenes occurred in Sam Maguire Park, Doheny GAA’s grounds in Dunmanway, in late October 2023.
Admirably, not long after that presentation ended, the Carbery runners-up rolled up their sleeves and resolved go one better the following year.
Maximum points from their opening group phase at the expense of Castlehaven, St Oliver Plunkett’s and Newcestown showed Kilmacabea meant business in 2024. A narrow 0-13 to 1-8 defeat of Randal Óg secured a semi-final clash with St Mary’s.
There, the Leap club built a 0-7 to 1-2 interval lead before stretching that advantage to six early in the second period.
Creditably, St Mary’s staged a comeback and were only a point behind when Damien Gore setup Liam McCarthy for a crucial Kilmacabea goal. Utilising all the experience gained from their previous campaign, the Kilmacs won 1-13 to 1-9.
Standing in the previous year’s runners-up way of securing a fourth divisional Junior A football title were Diarmuid Ó Mathúna’s.
The Castletownkenneigh club entered that final as underdogs but were also the big news story of West Cork GAA in 2024 having also reached, and subsequently winning, the division’s junior A hurling decider.
The underdogs showed little signs of nerves as Ted O’Leary found the Kilmacabea net inside two minutes. Yet, once again, the Kilmacs didn’t panic and turned things around to lead 0-6 to 1-1 at the break.
Patiently retaining possession and waiting for their opportunities, Damien Gore, Colin McCarthy and Liam McCarthy scores preceded a late Ian Jennings goal to wrap up a merited 1-12 to 1-4 victory.
Almost a year to the day, Kilmacabea had returned to Sam Maguire Park in Dunmanway and righted the wrongs of 12 months before. Relief was as apparent as joy on the faces of players, supporters and manager Donie O’Donovan.
“Last year, it was down to a point in the end,” O’Donovan said.
“To be back here after we watched Barryroe and had to take our beating, lick our wounds. Look, this win, it is very, very special. I think what happened last year did drive the lads on alright.
“When you lose a final, it hurts. You need a bit of luck along the way to get back there again. We got back and I think we deserved to win. I came in new last year and put things in place for the players. They led the way.
“We were very solid at the back and have the fellas up front who can score. The lads worked and worked and worked.
"You could tell the hurt of last year was driving them. You could tell inside in the dressing room and all week in the lead-up to the final.
"There was a bit of nervousness as well but all finals are hard won. We are a small club and thought that we would be doing well if we could get back to another final.
"It is four years since we were last West Cork champions. To come back and lift the cup is enough for us.
A bonus it may well be but Donie O’Donovan’s newly crowned champions have already taken an important step to prolonging their campaign. Defeating Douglas 0-14 to 1-5, the Carbery title-holders have progressed to a McCarthy Insurance Group junior A county semi-final.
Inniscarra will be Kilmacabea’s opponents on Sunday, December 1.
Is Kilmacabea a small club? Maybe but one with big ambitions, driven by hurt and two wins away from county final glory.
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