BY KIERAN McCARTHY
DESPITE being bottom of the table before a ball is kicked in the McCarthy Insurance Premier SFC on Sunday afternoon, Clonakilty will back themselves to take the runner-up spot in Group 2.
While they are not totally in control of their own destiny – a shock win for Carbery Rangers over Castlehaven would throw a spanner in the works – Clonakilty know a victory against St Michael’s, currently in second place, would give the West Cork men a great chance of advancing to the quarter-finals.
Boosting their odds would be an emphatic win against the city team, just in case Ross stun the Haven because scoring difference would come into play then. As it stands Clon (-6) are three worse off than Rangers (-3), but all that Clonakilty selector Eoin Ryan is demanding is a performance. Deliver that, and a win should follow.
‘The most important thing for us is to get a performance because we feel we haven’t performed yet in the championship, not for 60 minutes anyway,’ Ryan says.
‘We have to win, we know that, but we need a performance to get us there.’
Ryan believes the best is yet to come from a Clonakilty team yet to spark in their opening two games – a 1-18 to 1-12 loss to Castlehaven in the opener was disappointing, but Clon’s 1-9 to 0-12 draw with Ross last time out felt even worse as Martin O’Brien’s side had led by six points during the second half.
‘There is a lot more to come from this team but we have to deliver,’ Ryan insists.
‘Look at the first game against Castlehaven, we were blown away in the first half; we probably got our tactics wrong in that half. Our second half was better but our discipline left us down.
‘The last day against Ross, everything was going according to plan until we decided to defend a six-point lead instead of continuing to do what we were doing. We sat back and invited Ross on. When you invite a team on, they get a couple of scores and momentum, it’s hard to turn it around so we need to learn from that. We had no-one to blame except ourselves.’
The bottom line is that Clonakilty have one point after two games whereas St Michael’s, who beat Carbery Rangers in their opener, have two points. Back in July Clon needed extra-time to beat Michaels in the Division 2 county league final, 1-15 to 1-14, and Ryan is predicting a tense affair in Bandon on Sunday (4pm throw-in). But Clon know a win is all that will keep them alive in this campaign, there’s no room for error as this is a knock-out championship game.
Clonakilty have conceded the most (33 points in total) of all the 12 premier senior teams, the Haven loss causing most of the damage, but St Michael’s aren’t exactly setting the world on fire in front of the posts, racking up 1-13 in total across their two games.
‘The win is what it’s all about,’ Ryan adds, but knowing Clonakilty need a performance to take their season past next Sunday.
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