Clyda Rovers 1-16

O’Donovan Rossa 0-13

JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS

A 41-year reign as a senior football club came to an end for O’Donovan Rossa in disappointing fashion last Saturday.

Having preserved their place in the McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC with a playoff victory over Fermoy last year, the Skibbereen club ended up in the fixture again, with Clyda Rovers the opposition in Páirc Uí Rinn this year.

While Rossas overcame a slow start to trail by just a point at half-time and then pushed ahead on the restart, they were to endure 25 scoreless minutes.

Even then, the fact that the game was there to be won was shown by how they trailed by just three with normal time expiring, and they were level at 0-13 each as Dylan Hourihan Snr landed a two-point free before goalkeeper Derek Tobin stroked over a 45.

It seemed as if extra time, and possibly a replay, would be required but Clyda struck for a goal as Ben Nyhan touched home Cian Walsh’s delivery to restore the three-point advantage. When Walsh added an orange flag, it was curtains for Skibb, a late point by Nyhan giving a perhaps unfair overall reflection but with few quibbles about the outcome.

O’Donovan Rossa manager Liam Hurley didn’t have any complaints.

‘Ah yeah, no doubt about us, but look, if you don't show up in these games, this is what happens,’ he said. ‘This is what happens. We had a wind behind us, we just didn't show up unfortunately. Fair play to Clyda, they took it on and got the win.

‘If was going to come down to a dogfight, that's what we didn't want – we wanted to keep it open play. It just didn't work out. Some days, things just fall away and it just did today.

‘Look, there's a man walking off the pitch there now, Dave Shannon, and that's his last game. He's in for an operation next week, something he's been putting off. He gave us his all today and got three points, and they're the only positives we can take from a day like today.

‘We’re heartbroken, same as Shane, same as Ian and Brian and indeed the whole team. But look, we are where we are and we have to fight – we have to fight harder and there's no easy games in the league below us.’

Elliot Connolly of O'Donovan Rossa breaks away from Clyda Rovers' Niall Burke. (Photo: George Hatchell)

That’s for the coming weeks and months, but the processing of this defeat will involve some regrets. They will wonder how the year had gone if Kevin Davis had been fit, though against that Clyda were without Conor Corbett and Paudie Kissane. Equally, given how Skibb started, the game could have been gone from them very early.

The opening nine minutes brought five unanswered Clyda points as they got on top at midfield but then Luca Harte helped Rossas to get a foothold there and he scored a point before setting up Shannon for one.

Wing-back Nially Daly even had a half-chance of a goal as Skibb began to use the ball better, and it was Daly who rounded off a good move on 22 minutes to level at 0-6 each. When Kevin Hurley claimed the kick-out, good work from Dylan Hourihan Jnr helped his namesake to get his second point as Skibb led for the first time.

Frank Hurley of O'Donovan Rossa heads for goal as Clyda Rovers' Cian Cooney gives chase. (Photo: George Hatchell)

Hurley, following good work by Darren Daly, nearly turned a one-point lead into four, shooting narrowly wide, before Cian Walsh’s two-pointer had Clyda back in front and Aidan Kelly made it 0-9 to 0-7.

Shannon did score two in a row – the first in the 33rd minute and then again in the 31st (or, more accurately, one in first-half injury time and then again on the restart). Dylan Hourihane Snr had them ahead again, 0-10 to 0-9, on 32 minutes, but Skibb couldn’t build on it.

Clyda, who had former St Oliver Punkett’s man Kevin Coffey in goal, regained the initiative with a pair of Kevin Graham points and, while they were far from perfect – there was a 14-minute period where neither side scored – there were able to edge clear. Skibb did manage to get back into it, but it was Clyda’s day.

Scorers

Clyda Rovers: Cian Walsh 0-5 (2 2pt), Ben Nyhan 1-1, Kevin Graham 0-3, Aidan Kelly, David Walsh (2pt) 0-2 each, Cian O’Sullivan (f), Cian Cooney, David Cooney 0-1 each.

O’Donovan Rossa: Dylan Hourihane Snr 0-5 (1 2ptf), David Shannon 0-3, Luke O’Sullivan 0-2, Derek Tobin (45), Niall Daly, Luca Harte 0-1 each.

Clyda Rovers: Kevin Coffey; Darragh Buckley, Niall Burke, Cian Cooney; Aidan Kelly, Aidan Walsh, Colin Kelly; David Walsh, Ben Nyhan; Conor O’Mullane, Kevin Graham, Cian O’Sullivan; Cian Walsh, David Cooney, Patrick Ryan.

Subs: Conor Flanagan for Cooney, Cathal Corbett for Patrick Ryan (46).

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

Subs: Thomas Hegarty for Shannon (42), James Goulding for Lucey (45), Alan Daly for O’Sullivan (injured, 53), Seán McCarthy for Dylan Hourihane Jnr (59).

Referee: Alan O’Connor (Ballygarvan).