Montenotte’s speedy return to top takes Scannell by surprise

ANOTHER year and another trip to Tallaght for Team Hotel Montenotte Cork, but Mark Scannell didn’t see this one coming.

On the face of it, that seems to be a tall tale.

This, after all, comes from the coach of a side that had won the last three Women’s Superleague titles and whose hopes of making it four cup crowns in a row were only unseated at the last hurdle 12 months ago.

Hear him out, though.

“We lost five serious players this year,” he explains, “every one of them an Irish international and all good enough to walk on to most teams in the country. We’ve been lucky we had girls to come in who had been very successful at underage. I would have been astonished if someone had said to me at the start of the season that we would get to the end of January undefeated and top of the league and be in the cup final. But we’ve dealt with it well.”

They have that.

Among those lost to the Glanmire club of late was Niamh Dwyer, who moved to London to take up a teaching role and who is currently the top scorer in the UK League after joining up with the Barking Abbey Leopards.

Valerie O’Driscoll is studying in Leiden, Holland for a year, Donna Buckley has taken time out and will get married soon while Denise Walsh has decided to concentrate on her physiotherapy business in Blackpool.

All in all, quite a drain of talent and yet here they are facing into another weekend in Dublin with a National Cup title to play for and their old pals, and champions, DCU Mercy hoping to come between them and silverware once again.

It is testament to the strength of the club that they have negotiated what should have been a period of transition so seamlessly and confirmation of Scannell’s belief that the only thing more important than good coaching is good recruiting. Of people, not just players.

“We have good structures in Glanmire. We try and drill things into the players from a young age and we are very lucky with the UCC link.

“What you have to remember, too, is that success attracts players and people who come to Glanmire tend to stay forever.”

While Montenotte were spilling players from their roster, Mercy were adding to theirs. Catriona Foley, Emma Dyer and Samaniego Martinez joined the capital club this season but Scannell believes the difference tomorrow will be found on the two benches – and in who utilises theirs best.

Mercy managed that last year but Scannell has been somewhat bemused by questions from the media this week that ask if his side will be motivated by thoughts of revenge because of last year’s final defeat.

He said: “Last year was a reality check for us. All good things come to an end and the fact is that we had beaten DCU in four league finals and two cup semi-finals before that but we will have learned from last year.

“We would ask ourselves, ‘did we do things as well last year?’ What people forget though, is that we won the league emphatically three months later and we beat the same team in the final.

“Last year is last year but you would hope that the (cup) loss would give our girls a bit of extra bite if it was tight coming down the stretch.”