Declan Hayes takes the Carbery Rangers hot seat, Colm Aherne is back with Bandon

DECLAN Hayes is the new Carbery Rangers senior football manager. The Ross veteran takes over from Micheál O’Sullivan, who had been in charge for the past three years (2018-20).

Hayes came on board as a selector under O’Sullivan last season and has now been handed the job of guiding the team’s fortunes this year. His management team includes James Kingston, John Holly, Mark Ronan, Adam Doyle and Denis McSweeney.

Hayes was an important part of the Carbery Rangers team that won the club’s first-ever Cork SFC title in 2016 while last year he featured for the club’s juniors in their run to the Carbery JAFC final against Kilmacabea.

Last season Carbery Rangers didn’t emerge from the Cork Premier SFC group of death that also included Castlehaven, Newcestown and Ilen Rovers.

Meanwhile, after three seasons as Clonakilty senior football manager Colm Aherne has returned to Bandon to take charge of the club’s senior team. In his previous spell as Bandon football boss, Aherne guided the team out of the junior ranks in West Cork as they won the divisional and Cork JAFC titles in 2015 and then the Cork IFC crown in 2016. Aherne’s management team for the season ahead includes Aidan McCarthy (coach), Jimmy Gabriel and Derek O’Driscoll (selectors) and Stuart Reid (strength and conditioning).

Also, there are slight changes to the O’Donovan Rossa management team for the 2021 season. Martin Bohane is staying on as manager, while both Anthony Davis and Don Davis have stepped back. Bohane’s management set-up includes Shane Crowley (coach), Diarmuid Lucey and Sean Carmody (selectors) and Jonathan Davis (strength and conditioning).

With the 2020 Cork Premier SFC final against Nemo Rangers to look forward to at some stage this year – there is no date yet for that tie – it’s not surprising that there is no change to Castlehaven’s senior management team. James McCarthy remains in the hot seat and his selectors include John Cleary, Bernie Collins and Brendan Deasy.