SEAMUS Hayes doesn’t mince his words when asked how important it is for Carbery Rangers to maintain their premier senior football status.

‘It's not negotiable, really,’ the Ross boss insists. The reality, however, is that Rangers find themselves in the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC relegation play-off for the second season running.

Last year, the Rosscarbery club survived as Éire Óg slipped into the senior A ranks. Now Rangers aim to inflict similar pain on Valley Rovers this Saturday evening in Enniskeane (5pm).

‘You have to draw on that experience from last year,’ Hayes says, recalling their 1-11 to 2-6 victory against Éire Óg that preserved the Carbery club’s top-tier status.

That was a character-building win, he feels, but Hayes also knows results since then have not been good enough.

Rangers lost all three group games this season: first to Carrigaline (2-11 to 1-13), then to St Finbarr’s (1-10 to 0-11), before a demoralising defeat against Clonakilty (1-17 to 0-6) left them facing a last-chance showdown with Valleys, who also lost all their group games to Newcestown, Castlehaven and Mallow.

Alarmingly, you have to go back to August 2022 for Carbery Rangers’ last group-stage win in the championship. No group-stage victory in three consecutive campaigns (2023–25) is clear evidence that Ross are in a real battle to keep their premier senior status.

‘You're only as good as your last performance – or second-half performance – and against Clonakilty we were very, very poor,’ Hayes admits.

‘We expect a big response from our group this weekend. We’ve been here before and, to be fair to our lads, any time they’ve been put to the pin of their collar in these positions, they’ve turned up.’

Hayes points to more encouraging displays against Carrigaline and the Barrs, which suggest the second-half collapse against Clon was ‘a one-off’.

‘We were turning the ball over too easily and holding on to it too long in the second half – we just needed to mind the ball a little bit better,’ he reflects, adding that Liam O’Donovan’s early second-half goal for Clon deflated his side.

‘Clon played exceptional football, but at the same time we have to be better than that against Valley Rovers.’

Carbery Rangers have competed in the top tier of Cork club football since 2006, and Hayes is adamant they must stay there.

‘You need to be playing at the top level, in both league and championship, to test yourself against the best,’ he says.

‘It’s there you find out more about yourself as players, as management, as a group. The better teams will expose you, but the more exposure you get, the better.

‘For us, playing at this level is everything. Look at the younger players coming through – they want to play at the top level, and that’s premier senior.

‘We have an obligation to the jersey and the club to make sure we stay here.’

When Ross and Valleys clashed in the 2023 championship, Valleys came out on top, 1-14 to 0-11. Rangers know they need to improve – but Hayes is confident they’ll get the response they need.