Cill na Martra 1-20

O’Donovan Rossa 2-6

MATTHEW HURLEY REPORTS

IT’S a second successive relegation play-off for O’Donovan Rossa, who will face Clyda Rovers on September 26th in Macroom in a bid to remain a senior club.

Following their defeat to Cill na Martra in Enniskeane, coach Shane Crowley felt their relegation play-off win against Fermoy last year is the blueprint they need to replicate.

If they don’t, the Skibbereen team will drop out of the senior ranks for the first time since 1985.

‘We’d like to take something from last year where we played well against Fermoy in a pressure game. It’s unlike, we’ll say, getting to the quarter-final or semi-final where it’s positive pressure and you’re trying to win a county. Here, the pressure is negative pressure, trying to stay in the grade,’ Crowley told The Southern Star.

‘We’ve been a senior club for a long time. Nobody here wants to go down to intermediate. We want to stay up. We’ll do our level best to stay up.

‘It’s a follow-on from last year. We are where we are, and maybe deservedly so. It’s been a tough year with injuries and guys not available to us.’

One of the key players unavailable is talisman Kevin Davis, who is very unlikely to feature against Clyda.

“One positive from their latest McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC game was their first-half performance, though. 1-9 to 1-5 down against Cill na Martra, Skibb probably should have led, with Frank Hurley, Luca Harte and Kevin O’Sullivan all impressing.

‘For the first half, we were quite competitive. We gave away a few scores and being down four points was not a fair reflection,’ Crowley explained.

‘It was probably the best we played all year. We looked really good there at times, and we battled away, which is all we asked of the lads. But unfortunately, the year catches up with us.’

Cill na Martra, meanwhile, are focusing on a quarter-final against Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh on September 26th in Ballyvourney. Manager Morgan O’Sullivan knows a Muskerry derby will bring a big test.

‘We knew we were going to be under pressure to come out of the group this year, just given what fellas were away and fellas were finished playing. So thankfully, the lads did the business and we’ve a quarter-final to look forward to now, which is great,’ O’Sullivan said.

As regards the game, a fortuitous David Shannon goal on nine minutes gave Skibb a 1-3 to 0-4 lead, but Cill na Martra recovered. A goal from Shane Ó Duinnín, after great play by Ciarán Ó Duinnín, had the mid-Cork outfit four up at the break.

Rossas did strike the net again when Colm O’Driscoll’s shot was nudged home by Elliot Connolly on 48 minutes. By then though, the score was 1-16 to 2-6.

Skibb only scored 1-1 in the second period compared to Cill na Martra’s 0-11.

Dan Ó Duinnín, Danny Ó Conaill, Antóin Ó Cuana and Gearóid Ó Goillidhe were others to feature prominently as O’Sullivan’s troops sailed into the quarter-finals.

OUR STAR: Danny Ó Conaill was the star of an impressive Cill na Martra team display with 0-5 from play.

Scorers

Cill na Martra: Shane Ó Duinnín 1-5 (2f); Danny Ó Conaill 0-5 (1 2pt); Ciarán Ó Duinnín, Seán Ó Fóirreidh, Dan Ó Duinnín 0-2 each; Jeaic Ó Loingsigh, Tadhg Ó Corcora, Antóin Ó Cuana, Antaine Ó Loingsigh 0-1 each.

O’Donovan Rossa: Elliot Connolly 1-1; David Shannon 1-0; Luke O’Sullivan 0-2 (0-2 f); Thomas Hegarty, Luca Harte, Niall Daly 0-1 each.

Cill na Martra: Mícheál Ó Deasúna; Cormac Ó Cróinín; Adam Ó Duinnín, Jeaic Ó Loingsigh; Danny Ó Conaill, Seán Ó Fóirreidh, Cianie Ó Fóirreidh; Antóin Ó Cuana, Gearóid Ó Goillidhe; Ciarán Ó Duinnín, Dan Ó Duinnín (captain), Pádraig Ó hÉalaithe; Arran Ó hUidhir, Shane Ó Duinnín, Seán Ó Ceilleachair.

Subs: Tadhg Ó Corcora for A Ó Duinnín (ht); Dean MacCárthaigh for S Ó Ceilleachair (45); Eoin Ó Conaill for A Ó hUidhir (46); Antaine Ó Loingsigh for C Ó Crónín (58).

O’Donovan Rossa: Derek Tobin; Kevin Hurley, Frank Hurley, Seán Fitzgerald; James Goudling, Colm O’Driscoll, Niall Daly; Luca Harte, Ciarán Coombes; David Shannon, Thomas Hegarty, Dylan Hourihane jnr; Elliot Connolly, Dylan Hourihane snr; Luke O’Sullivan.

Subs: Darren Daly (captain) for D Shannon (36); Oisin Lucey for T Hegarty (39); Fionn Coombes for K Hurley (49).

Referee: Ciarán Murphy (Glanworth).