THERE are different types of pressure, Shane Crowley said after the defeat that confirmed O’Donovan Rossa’s place in the senior A relegation play-off.

‘Getting to a quarter-final, semi-final is positive pressure because you’re trying to win a county,’ the Skibb selector explained.

But for the Rossas, it’s a different reality right now.

‘Here the pressure is negative pressure, trying to stay in the grade,’ he said.

The Skibbereen team has been here before, just last year when they beat Fermoy in the relegation play-off to preserve their senior A status. That’s an experience they can lean on when they meet Clyda Rovers in Páirc Uí Rinn this Saturday afternoon (2.30pm).

To be back in the same position 12 months later highlights that these are challenging times for the Rossas.

They have struggled in recent championship campaigns and are currently on an eight-game winless streak in the round-robin phase.

Since they beat Fermoy on July 27th, 2024, the Rossas have lost to Dohenys (twice), Kanturk, Bishopstown, Carbery Rangers, Cill na Martra and Newmarket, and drawn with Béal Átha'n Ghaorthaidh in 2025. That’s a worrying run of form.

They have also conceded the most points (73) in the senior A championship this season. Only Ballincollig (77) at premier senior and Na Piarsagh (82) at premier junior have conceded more across the five championship grades. Both those clubs are also in relegation play-offs.

‘Look, it’s a follow-on from last year. We are where we are, and maybe deservedly so, but it’s been a tough year with injuries and guys not available to us,’ Crowley told this paper after the recent loss to Cill na Martra consigned the Rossas to the relegation scrap. There were positives even in defeat, especially the first-half performance as they only trailed by four. But then Cill na Martra took over, eventually winning by 11. In the end, another tough day at the office for the Skibbereen men.

A contributing factor to the team’s current struggles is their injury list – it’s stark. Against Cill na Martra, Liam Hurley’s team were without goalkeeper Ryan Price (ACL), their most consistent forward Kevin Davis (injured), Brian Crowley (ACL), Issac Harte (injured), Alan Daly (injured), Luke Connolly (injured), Rory Byrne (rugby commitments) and Padraig O’Neill (transfer out); these are players who played championship in either 2025 or 2026.

Going back further, from the O’Donovan Rossa team that contested the 2022 senior A semi-final against St Michael’s, 11 players who played that day are not available now, either through retirement or injury. Experienced figures like Donal Óg Hodnett, Paudie Crowley, Daniel Hazel and Mark Collins. Jamie Shanahan is another former Skibb footballer now making headlines in rugby as Highfield captain.

The Rossas squad isn’t deep enough to cope with such a huge turnover of players and then a lengthy injury list.

They’ve had to turn to their young guns, maybe sooner than they wanted to. Seven U21s have played in this championship campaign, with Frank Hurley, James Goulding, Luca Harte, Dylan Hourihane and Luke O’Sullivan all involved against Cill na Martra.

Those young players have had to learn fast, and the senior A grade is no place for sentiment.

The club has been senior since winning the county intermediate title back in 1985, but their senior status is under threat again this Saturday against a Clyda team that also lost all three group games and averaged just 0-12 per match.

‘We’ve been a senior club for a long time, and we just don’t want… nobody here wants to go down there (intermediate). We want to stay up, and we’ll do our level best to stay up,’ Crowley said.

The pressure is on for the Rossas to deliver again. They produced the goods last season when they teetered on the edge. They need to dig deep again.