Carbery Rangers 1-21

O’Donovan Rossa 2-9

JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS

IT was a long and frustrating wait, but Carbery Rangers ended an unwanted four-year run at the Black Field in Union Hall on Saturday night.

There was a lot riding on this McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC derby clash against O’Donovan Rossa; all the more so as both clubs had been beaten in their championship openers.

Playing into the breeze in the first half, the Rosscarbery side had a good start and Dylan O’Neill’s goal put them 1-2 to 0-3 ahead – while their Skibbereen opponents replied in kind through Dylan Hourihane Jnr, they would not score again for the rest of the first half.

By contrast, Ross – with John O’Rourke superb in a defensive playmaking role – scored 11 points on the trot to put themselves in a half-time position that did not look like being shaken and so it proved.

For manager Robbie Ahern, it was a case of satisfaction at having gained a first group-stage win since a premier senior victory over Éire Óg in 2022 but also the hope that this will be a stepping stone.

Carbery Rangers' Mark Hodnett driving forward against O'Donovan Rossa's Colm O'Driscoll. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

‘We know we're a good team and we know we should be doing better,’ he said.

‘Look, it is nice to get it, there's no doubt about it. We knew if we came up with a performance that we should be able to win and we did that comfortably, which is very good.’

While Ross’s early two-point was wiped out, thanks in part to a Dylan Hourihane Snr two-point score, the response was strong as John Hodnett and the excellent Peadar O’Rourke combined to create an opening for O’Neill – Derek Tobin got a block on the shot, but it was not enough to prevent the ball from crossing the line before Seán Fitzgerald could clear.

And yet, Skibb responded to that with a goal of their own. Colm O’Driscoll and Niall Daly started a move, Dylan Hourihane Snr delivered the ball towards full-forward David Shannon and, when he broke it, Dylan Hourhane Jnr reacted well to fire to the net. It was not allowed to become a setback for Ross, though.

‘We have our way of playing, we have our principles,’ Ahern said.

‘Something happens in a game, this is the next ball, that one is gone, you just have to keep on going and they're very good at it.’

With John O’Rourke displaying his impressive passing ability, Ross were able to find pockets of space among the massed Skibb rearguard and in O’Neill and Darragh Hayes they had the firepower to make that count.

The scores kept coming and the half-time whistle had them 1-13 to 1-3 in front – the lead might have been even more had Peadar O’Rourke taken a goal chance.

After O’Neill extended the lead to 11 points on the resumption following a nice pass from the ever-industrious Patrick Hurley, Skibb did end a 23-minute scoreless period with a pair of frees from Dylan Hourihane Snr but the strong Ross defence did not allow any opportunities for the erosion of their advantage in the form of a goal.

O'Donovan Rossa's Luke O'Sullivan on a solo from Carbery Rangers' John O'Rourke. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

When Hayes assisted a Mark Hodnett two-point score for Ross before getting his fifth, it left them 12 clear with the game approaching the three-quarter mark.

Mark Hodnett might have had a late goal as a dipping shot had to be clawed away by Derek Tobin and Skibb finished with a mini-flourish capped by a Hourihane goal from a free.

Skibb are not mathematically out but it’s likely that their main focus against Cill na Martra will be avoiding being in the relegation play-off for the second straight year. Ross face into a game against Newmarket in positive form, firmly in the mix for qualification for the knockout stages.

After such a result, a four-week gap feels like a luxury rather than a burden.

‘I think there's pluses and negatives to the hurling and the football,’ Ahern said.

‘I think the negative is if you lost or you didn't perform well. We won, we performed well, so that'll bring us into the next four weeks.

‘It's happened before where we haven't played well and we've had to try and pick things up but we’re going in now in a good frame of mind.’

Scorers

Carbery Rangers: Dylan O’Neill 1-6; Darragh Hayes 0-5 (1f); Mark Hodnett 0-4 (1 2pt, 1f); John O’Rourke 0-3; Patrick Hurley 0-2; Sam Lenihan 0-1.

O’Donovan Rossa: Dylan Hourihane Snr 1-5 (1-3f, 1 2pt), Dylan Hourihane Jnr 1-1, Elliott Connolly, Seán Fitzgerald, Luke O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Carbery Rangers: Paul Shanahan; Peter Óg Hill, Jack Kevane, Cian Daly; John O’Rourke, Sam Lenihan, Brian Hodnett; Keelan Scannell, Barry Kerr; Patrick Hurley, Mark Hodnett, John Hodnett; Peadar O’Rourke, Darragh Hayes, Dylan O’Neill.

Subs: James O’Riordan for Brian Hodnett (50), Jack O’Regan for Hayes (52).

O’Donovan Rossa: Derek Tobin; Kevin Hurley, Seán Fitzgerald, Ciarán Coombes; James Goulding, Colm O’Driscoll, Alan Daly; Luca Harte, Frank Hurley; Dylan Hourihane Jnr, Niall Daly, Dylan Hourihane Snr; Elliott Connolly, David Shannon, Luke O’Sullivan.

Subs: Luke Connolly for Alan Daly, Thomas Hegarty for Dylan Hourihane Jnr (both half-time), Oisín Lucey for Luke Connolly (43, inj).

Referee: Cormac Dineen (Douglas).