CLONAKILTY need a first senior football championship victory against Carbery Rangers in 19 years if they want to avoid a shock relegation play-off.
As the neighbouring clubs prepare for Sunday’s Group 2 clash in Ballinacarriga (4pm), both find themselves in a battle for survival and in desperate need of a win so they’re not dragged into a relegation clash.
If we have a winner, the reality is one of these West Cork giants will be battling to preserve their premier senior status.
But if there is a draw – and considering the last two championship derbies have ended in stalemate, that is a possibility – then it’s Clon who will be looking nervously at results in the other two groups.
History is not in Clon’s favour, as they have only won ONE of the previous eight senior championship games between the clubs that headquarters are just ten minutes apart. That sole success came in 2006, Carbery Rangers’ first year at senior, having won the All-Ireland intermediate title the previous season. Clonakilty gave the new kids on the senior block a hiding in an emphatic 3-15 to 0-8 win, but that’s proven to be the exception to the rule.
Since then, the Rosscarbery club has gone undefeated in SEVEN championship games against Clon. Seamus Hayes’ men have that proud record to defend this weekend, as they fight to avoid a second straight relegation play-off, while Clon were stuck in relegation scraps in both 2015 and ’17. Neither wants to revisit those tense occasions.
And then there are the local bragging rights…
The Star report when Clon beat Ross in the 2006 championship.
Here, we revisit the eight previous senior championship meetings of two local rivals.
WELCOME TO SENIOR (2006): The first senior championship clash didn’t live up to the billing, but Clon didn’t care as they won the round three tie in Enniskeane by 3-15 to 0-8. At half time, Clon led 1-11 to 0-1, with Maurice Moore getting Ross on the board late in the half. Rangers, in their first season at the top tier, were in big trouble. Without John Hayes (injured) and John Murphy (suspended), Rangers had no answer to a Clon team that saw Colm Callanan, the late Padraigh Griffin and Martin O’Brien score goals in a 16-point win.
POWER RANGERS (2012): We had to wait six years for the next championship clash of Clon and Ross – in the intervening period, Clon were crowned county champions in 2009 – and the pendulum had swung in Rangers’ favour. In a 2012 round-one tie in Dunmanway, the Hayes brothers wreaked havoc on Clonakilty in Rangers’ 1-14 to 1-7 victory. Current Ross boss Seamus Hayes scored a crucial second half goal – finishing a rebound to the net – while John Hayes kicked 0-7, including five frees. James Fitzpatrick added 0-3 for the winners who went on to contest a third consecutive semi-final.
ROSS ON THE RISE (2014): By 2014, Rangers had established themselves as creditable title challengers, and went on to contest the county senior final this season. En route, they took out Clonakilty by 1-13 to 1-8 in a quarter-final played in Enniskeane, having beaten Castlehaven in the previous round. Again, John Hayes was the chief score-getter for Rangers, hitting 1-7 including a penalty just before the break as they led 1-7 to 0-5 at half time. Clon’s cause in the second half wasn’t helped by three red cards, and they finished with 12 men.
A TALE OF TWO CLUBS (2017): When Carbery Rangers and Clonakilty met in the first round in 2017, both were at different ends of the championship. The Rosscarbery club were the defending champions, having won an historic first senior title in 2016, while Clon were suffering somewhat, enduring a few relegation worries along the way. This clash saw Ross inflict more pain on Clon, winning 2-15 to 1-4 thanks to goals from John Hayes and Rob Kiely. The winners led by 1-6 to 0-2 at the break, and Thomas Clancy’s red card for Clon early in the second half dented any hopes of a comeback.
CLOSING THE GAP? (2018): In 2018, and again in the opening round of the championship, the neighbours met again, but this time the gap closed, or so we thought. While Rangers won by 14 points at the same stage one season earlier, the winning margin was cut to three points, 0-11 to 0-8, when they collided in Castlehaven. At one stage Carbery Rangers led 0-10 to 0-3, but Clon didn’t lie down – scores from Ross Mannix, Jonathan Leahy, Liam O’Donovan and Thomas Clancy set up an exciting finale. So, was the gap between them closing in?
ROSS STILL ON TOP (2018): A few months after their round one tie, they met again, this time in a county quarter-final. Any thoughts that the gap had closed – the round one tie was the evidence – were tossed to one side as Carbery Rangers powered to a 1-18 to 0-11 victory, and a spot in the last four. Leading by five at the break, 0-10 to 0-5, as soon as Mark Hodnett goaled inside the opening minute of the second half, and Ross added three quick points, there was only going to be one winner. John Hayes (0-7, 5f), Mark Hodnett (1-1), John O’Rourke (0-4) and Alan Jennings (0-2) were all on target for the winners, who lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions St Finbarr’s.
Clonakilty's Sean White in control against Carbery Rangers' Jack Kevane during theIr 2024 Cork PSFC draw.
NOT ONE FOR PURISTS (2023): Five seasons passed before the next championship clash between the two, but was it worth the wait? No. This 2023 Premier SFC Group A tie in Enniskeane was a hard watch, with honours even as Ross and Clon shared 12 scores in a 0-6 apiece draw. There were five scores in the first half, as Ross led 0-3 to 0-2 at the break. Fans were spoiled with seven scores in the second period, with Ross Mannix scoring a late leveller for Clon. This wasn’t an advert for football, but both sides picked up a point in a forgettable derby. It ultimately helped Clon advance to the knock-out stages, whereas Rangers didn’t progress.
HONOURS EVEN, AGAIN (2024): Clon and Ross were drawn in the same group again in 2024, and again it finished in a draw. Rangers came from six down in the second half to salvage a 0-12 to 1-9 draw in Dunmanway. Darragh Gough’s penalty in the second period had looked like firing Clon to victory, but Ross rallied, led by John O’Rourke. Darragh Hayes scored the Ross equaliser. It was Clon who advanced to the knockout stages, along with table-toppers Castlehaven, but again Nemo ended their hopes. For Ross, it was a relegation play-off win against Éire Óg that saved their season from disaster.
