Ilen always pushing underage

For a club with a small catchment area, Ilen Rovers are well used to punching above their weight.

Fachtna Collins, Kieran Daly, Kevin O’Sullivan, Diarmuid Duggan and Conor O’Driscoll have all played for Cork at senior level, with Dan Mac Eoin likely to be the next off the production line.

Last year, Alex Hassett, Tom Bushe and Seán O’Donovan were all county minors and there are sure to be more on the way as the Baltimore club are the recipients of the first Rebel Óg monthly award of 2015, having been successful at minor and U14 level.

Two U14B county wins in 2012 and 2013 were followed by an A victory. Minor mentor Dominic Daly attributes the progression of the 2012 veterans as being key to the minor win.

“This team had reached an U12 final in 2008 but then maybe they were pushed up to a high grade too early,” he said.

“They were unlucky in a lot of games, they were always on the brink of it and there were always talented players there.

“A lot of the success was down to the players from the 2012 U14 win coming through. While there was a lot of talented players up to the age and U17, those others coming up really helped to strengthen it further.”

Kieran Coughlan, who was part of the U14 management, believes that constant testing will aid their development.

“The big thing with this U14 team is that next year they’ll be playing Premier 2 and that’s what you need. We’re happy winning A and B counties but you have to push on too.

“There’s a lot of work being put in by former players who have retired and, crucially, that’s going in at school level.”

His colleague James Connolly points to the confidence which comes with winning.

“A lot of them have won three in a row, some of them have gone through the U14 grade without losing a championship game.

“You’ve a group of guys there at the moment whose dedication is unbelievable, their attitude and discipline are second-to-none. If you put in the effort, you’ll get the rewards.”

Having been senior for more than a decade, Ilen are established at the top level now, but nobody is taking it for granted.

“Every year, you’d have a few players coming through and that’s helping things,” Daly said.

“We’re at the stage now where we haven’t gone past the fourth round in a while and we need to make that sort of progress as well as a club.

“It’s great being up senior and we want to stay senior, but it’s a goal of the club to push the underage on so that we’re competing at as high a level as we can.”