INSIDE TRACK: Heart says Ross, head says Clon

THE second set of fixtures in the Bon Secours Cork Football Championships group stages are upon us and who is in contention and who is likely to be out will be far more apparent on Sunday evening.

It is key to progression to get some points on the board in the opening game as it gives management teams and players breathing space and the possibility of playing more expansive and expressive football in the next round.

This is moving weekend and if you did not perform at the first attempt, your back is to the wall and you need to come out all guns blazing and fight for your place in the championship and quite possibly in the grade overall. The big game from a West Cork point of view is Carbery Rangers and Clonakilty in Group A of the premier grade on Sunday at 3pm in Enniskeane.

This is the seventh meeting between Carbery Rangers and Clonakilty since Ross went senior in 2006. Ross had a chastening experience in Enniskeane that day, with Clon emerging with a 16-point victory and the local bragging rights. However, it should be noted that, since that day, the Rosscarbery men have been victorious on six occasions – 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017 and twice in 2018. The closest the Brewery town men have got was three points in round one in 2018, but the profile of both sides has changed dramatically in the intervening years.

Living in Ross and teaching in Clon, I know both groups of players very well. Ross are a team in transition with the experience of the elder statesmen grooming the young and up and coming under the watchful eye of a new and astute manager in Séamus Hayes. Clon, meanwhile, look primed for a right rattle at the Andy Scannell Cup under the stewardship of Martin O’Brien, who is also in his first season.

In 2021, Clon lost the county final by a point to St Finbarr’s but failed to qualify from the group stage last year. Their age-profile looks just right and there are red jerseys all over the place. They kicked 20 points in their dismantling of Valley Rovers in round one, 15 of which came from play. Five of their team – the White brothers Seán and Mark, Liam O’Donovan, Thomas Clancy and Maurice Shanley – are and were inter-county senior players. Dan Peet, Chris Kenneally and Conor Daly are recent Cork U-20s while Darragh Gough was a Cork minor last year and Seán McEvoy also wore the red underage.

Most of this talent fits in from midfield back and, since the departure of Dara Ó Sé after the 2021 campaign, they have been screaming out for a heavy-scoring marquee inside forward in the form of Steven Sherlock, Brian Hurley or John Hayes. Whether Gough or Daly can fulfil that role this season or in years to come will be key to their success.

Castlehaven's Damien Cahalane played well in their opener against Carbery Rangers.

Carbery Rangers’ league form was poor but with the return of some key players, they got their act together big time in their opening-round draw with Castlehaven. They’ve been hit with major losses to emigration in the form of Jerry O’Riordan and Mark Hodnett, but that was masked by some very encouraging performances by the likes of Ciarán Santry, Barry Kerr and Keelan Scannell.

Gone are the days when Ross can go toe-to-toe with the best in an all-out shoot out. Against Nemo Rangers last year in the quarter-final, under the guidance of Declan Hayes, they found a method that works for the group and came within a whisker of beating the eventual champions. Séamus Hayes and his backroom team had their team highly organised defensively in round one and they got more from the inside line of Santry and Darragh Hayes.

The battle of the goalkeepers could be the key to victory. Mark White again showed his class in his all-encompassing sweeper-keeper role against Valleys, kicking two points from play in the process. Paul Shanahan had his best game in years for Ross, arrowing kickouts at his targets and kicking three points from placed balls to boot. I think Ross will need goals and far bigger performances from the O’Rourke brothers up front. If the Rangers defensive system holds up and Clon’s forward line is tied up, it will be left to Shanley, Clancy, Seán White and Liam O’Donovan to punch holes. Will they be able to make the decisive incisions and release their shooters? My heart says Ross, but my head says Clon and I wouldn’t rule out another draw here.

A win for Clon will secure qualification with the Haven to come in the final game. A win for Ross would put them joint top with the Union Hall/Castletownshend men with the expectation that they will take care of business against Valleys this weekend. That would make Clon against the Haven in the final game an absolute humdinger of a West Cork derby as it could possibly be knockout.

This is probably the hardest game of the premier senior this weekend to call and I would fancy the Barrs, Ballincollig, Douglas, Castlehaven and Nemo to come through in the other ties.