'Freshness, belief and a pathway': Michael Dolan on rebuilding Fermoy footballers

Fermoy’s first group-stage football victory since July 2022 came with a weight of significance that wasn’t lost on manager Michael Dolan.

Their one-point win over Naomh Abán in the McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC last month wasn’t just a result — it was a release.

Four years without a championship group-stage win had hung heavily over the club, and Dolan — in his first season back in charge — knew exactly what it meant. Fermoy are looking to reset after suffering relegation from the SAFC last year.

“It was a massive win for the club,” he said of the triumph over Naomh Abán in Round 1.

“There’s been so much hard work put in by a lot of people, and confidence was very, very low, but you can see now there’s confidence back. They’re enjoying it and looking forward to the rest of the championship.

“We dug really deep. We were disappointed to be six points down because we felt we had performed a lot better than that. Naomh Abán are a fine team and Ed Myers was excellent. We made a tactical switch with Ben Twomey and it paid off.” 

Twomey’s late scoring burst flipped the game on its head — and flipped the mood around Fermoy.

“It’s amazing what a victory does,” Dolan says. 

“Old fellas, young fellas, everyone coming around congratulating people and wishing us the best of luck going forward. There’s just a great buzz around the place.

“It has been a tough few years for Fermoy, that’s well documented. Hopefully now we can build on this win — that’s the plan.” 

Last year’s relegation from Senior A was a bruising experience, and Dolan — based in Douglas and son of former Cork County Board Chairman Mick Dolan — didn’t shy away from its impact. When he met the players at the start of the season, the message was clear.

“We all said at the start of the year that we have to get back up to Senior A. Fermoy needs to be at senior level. There was a great comment after the Naomh Abán match — someone said there was real togetherness in the panel. We’ve been trying to work on that and also making sure people are enjoying themselves.

“That was the one thing I wanted to do with Paul Donnellan and the rest of the management team, with Eamon O’Connor and others — bring freshness. Have lads fresh for championship. We made a few small tweaks during the year, giving fellas breaks. We are a dual club and need to look after the players.” 

Despite relegation from the Division 3 League, in a strange way there were more positives than negatives for Fermoy. They knew it was all about championship.

“We were able to look at a lot of young fellas, and look at mature fellas in different positions,” Dolan states. 

“We tried things. We were close in all the matches. One of the games we were without 15 players — ten injured. We’re getting injured fellas back now, but the challenge is balancing training and match time.

“The plan was always to be ready for championship. We weren’t too worried about the league in terms of where we finished. We just wanted to try different things and build a panel.” 

Fermoy now face Nemo Rangers’ second team in Glenville on Friday at 7.15pm, their second Group 3 fixture, before finishing against Ballinora.

“We have to take a one-game-at-a-time approach,” the Fermoy manager said. 

“Respect the opposition and make sure our own house is in order. Perform to the best of our ability and be consistent.

“Irrespective if it’s Nemo’s second team or third team, they’ve been a football club at the top level for years. There’s never a bad team that comes out of Nemo. They have lads challenging for senior places. 

“We respect Nemo and Ballinora, but we’ll take it one game at a time.” 

When the season ends — whether Fermoy advance or fall short — Dolan’s ambitions won’t change.

“Our end goal is to progress and win the championship if we can. The second part is creating a pathway for youngsters to come through and play with the main team. And the third is getting the performance out of the players. We know we have the players.

“It’s not commitment or attitude — it’s getting them to perform to their best. We’re getting there, but we have to keep working hard.”