Carbery Rangers Dominate O’Donovan Rossa in SAFC Clash
Carbery Rangers 1-21
O’Donovan Rossa 2-9
Four years of waiting ended in a rush of scores and a roar of relief in Union Hall.
Under the lights at the Black Field, with both sides nursing opening-round defeats and tension thick in the air, Carbery Rangers didn’t just steady themselves. They tore into their McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC campaign with a statement win that left O’Donovan Rossa chasing shadows long before the finish.
For a while, it looked like a derby in the balance. Skibb started the sharper, and when Dylan Hourihane Snr clipped over a two-point score on 11 minutes, they held a 0-3 to 0-2 lead and the locals in black and amber were in good voice.
That lasted barely a heartbeat.
John Hodnett and Peadar O’Rourke sliced through the Rossa cover with a slick move, feeding Dylan O’Neill. Derek Tobin got something on the shot, Seán Fitzgerald scrambled, but the ball still found its way over the line. Ross had their first major and a foothold.
Skibb answered in kind almost immediately. Colm O’Driscoll and Niall Daly pieced together a move from deep, Hourihane Snr delivered into the danger zone and when David Shannon broke the ball, Dylan Hourihane Jnr reacted quickest, rifling to the net.
Suddenly it was 1-3 to 1-2 in Rossa’s favour with 13 minutes gone. That, remarkably, was their last score of the half.
What followed was a 20-minute onslaught.
Ross found their rhythm and never let it go. John O’Rourke, stationed in the half-back line, dictated the game with his kicking and calm. His range of passing opened angles that shouldn’t have been there, and once the ball went inside, O’Neill and Darragh Hayes went to work.
Point after point dropped over the bar. Eleven in a row before the break, and all this while playing into the breeze.
Hayes clipped four from play before half-time, O’Rourke and Patrick Hurley joined in, and Mark Hodnett – a constant outlet at centre-forward – chipped away too, including a two-point effort. Even when Peadar O’Rourke, outstanding throughout, missed a half-chance for a goal, Ross barely blinked.
By the time the whistle sounded, the scoreboard read 1-13 to 1-3. A ten-point cushion, a derby effectively decided.
Rossa needed something dramatic on the restart. Instead, they got more of the same. Within moments of the throw-in, Hurley threaded a neat pass into O’Neill and the corner-forward did what he’d done all evening, splitting the posts to stretch the lead to 11.
Skibb finally snapped a 23-minute barren spell when Hourihane Snr landed two frees, but they were living off scraps. The Ross defence, with Brian Hodnett strong on the wing and the full-back line alert, refused to cough up the kind of goal chance that might have sparked a comeback.
Every time Rossa threatened to inch closer, Ross pushed them back.
Hayes, whose only score from a dead ball came in a five-point haul, turned provider as he set up Mark Hodnett for another two-point effort. Hayes then tagged on his fifth of the night. The gap ballooned to 12 as the game drifted towards the three-quarter mark, the contest reduced to damage limitation for the Skibb men.
Ross might have had a second goal late on. A dipping shot from Mark Hodnett forced Tobin into a sharp save, the Rossa goalkeeper clawing the ball away to deny an even heavier beating.
Skibb did at least finish with a flicker. Hourihane Snr, their main threat throughout, capped his 1-5 tally with a late goal from a free as they tacked on a mini-flurry of scores. It trimmed the margin, but not the story.
Ross, who hadn’t tasted a group-stage win since turning over Éire Óg at premier senior level in 2022, were already home and hosed.
O’Neill’s 1-6, all from play, underpinned the victory. Hayes’ 0-5 and the 0-4 from Mark Hodnett – including a two-pointer and a free – gave them a spread of threats that Rossa never got to grips with. O’Rourke’s 0-3 from deep, Hurley’s 0-2 and a point from captain Seán Lenihan rounded out a performance that looked like a team finally clicking into gear.
For Rossa, Hourihane Snr’s 1-5 (1-3 from frees and a two-pointer) and the early goal from Hourihane Jnr were the bright spots, with Eoin Connolly, Fitzgerald and Luke O’Sullivan adding a point each. It wasn’t close to enough.
Carbery Rangers now roll into a pivotal clash with Newmarket with momentum restored and confidence rebuilt, their scoring difference slightly dented by that late concession but their belief very much intact.
O’Donovan Rossa, staring at the prospect of a second successive relegation play-off if things don’t turn quickly, must regroup before facing Cill na Martra.
Their season might just depend on how they answer this.
