Unfinished business for O’Donoghue
By Hayden Moore
GLENANNE Head Coach Shane O’Donoghue has been left feeling like there is “unfinished business” following Hockey Ireland’s decision to abandon the EY Hockey League season.
With the sport still side-line due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey Ireland opted to pull the plug on the leagues, citing time constraints.
Shane O’Donoghue
For Loreto in the Women’s EY League and Three Rock Rovers and Glenanne in the Men’s top tier, this means they will face a longer wait for a return to competitive action.
As well as taking on the duties of Director of Hockey with Glenanne, O’Donoghue returned to his boyhood club on an initial two-year term as head coach of the Men’s senior team in May 2020.
Operating in a dual role, as player/head coach, O’Donoghue is relishing the opportunity of taking Glenanne back to the top.
“I was glad coming back home. I was looking forward to a third season with the Dragons, but things ended quite abruptly because of the pandemic,” he told The Echo.
“It sort of fast-tracked everything and I came home.
“It was always going to be a very different year, doing the player/coach thing as well and I was only starting to get the run of things before the rug was pulled out from under me.
“To say there is unfinished business would be an understatement. It’s my boyhood club. I played with some of these lads when I was 15.
“A few of the lads might be getting on in years and I really want to help these lads finish off their careers with Glenanne on a high note, perhaps with some silverware, I’m not sure, but it certainly feels like there is some unfinished business.”
Glenanne had a somewhat rocky start to the 2020/21 EY Hockey League, drawing against UCD and Banbridge before losing to Pembroke Wanderers in their last game before the season was shut down.
Speaking about the decision to call off the league season, O’Donoghue said: “I think it’s one of those decisions, like the government, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
“We got three games into the season, then we were halted by another lockdown, so that’s at least three/four months out already, from November to February.
“Who knows how much longer we would have been out and we probably wouldn’t have had much opportunity to get another pre-season under our belts before it restarted.
“The vaccine is being rolled out, a lot of hockey clubs would use school facilities and schools are coming back now as well.
“So it was probably the right decision. It’s just when you see my old team in Belgium, Dragons, up and running already, it becomes hard.”
With the window open for a possible return later in the year, Hockey Ireland are working with the four provinces on potential alternative competition formats.
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