Carbery Rangers 0-12
Clonakilty 1-9
TOM LYONS REPORTS
SIX points in front following a Darragh Gough penalty in the 43rd minute, Clonakilty looked home and hosed in this McCarthy Insurance Premier Senior Football Championship derby in sun-splashed Dunmanway on Sunday.
Rangers, who had gone scoreless from the 11th to the 36th minute, seemed dead and buried but the last quarter saw an amazing transformation.
Emptying their bench to great effect and with Cork player John O’Rourke thundering into this Group 2 game, it was the Ross men who dominated the last quarter. Rangers cut the lead point by point, outscoring the Clon men by 0-7 to 0-1 in that last drama-filled quarter.
Carbery Rangers' John Hodnett is stopped by Maurice Shanley of Clonakilty during the McCarthy Insurance Group PSFC in Dunmanway Sunday.
They could have won the game as Darragh Hayes’ equalising shot in the 62nd minute blazed just over the crossbar but there was more drama to follow when the referee chose to ignore what looked a blatant foul on Clon’s Brian White 40 metres out from the Ross goal in the dying seconds of the game.
‘A draw was a great result considering we were six points down and we could have snatched it at the end,’ said Rangers’ relieved manager Seamus Hayes. ‘I was running down the sideline when Darragh Hayes was cutting through at the end and thought the shot might go in but it just cleared the crossbar. The lads never gave up and we’d have to be happy with that comeback. Now we face a really tough test against Castlehaven but we’re still in contention.’
Against the strong breeze in the first half, Rangers dominated the opening exchanges. They led by 0-3 to 0-2 after ten minutes following points from Brian Hodnett, Paul Shanahan (free) and John O’Rourke, in answer to scores from Seán White and Conor Daly.
Amazingly, Rangers weren’t to score again until the 34th minute as Clon began to wrest control, with Cork players Maurice Shanley and Thomas Clancy, along with wandering goalkeeper Mark White, Seán White, Ben Ridgeway, Chris Kenneally, Conor Daly and Darragh Gough prominent. Five unanswered points in the second quarter from Darragh Gough (free, mark, play), Seán White and Conor Daly saw Clon in front by 0-7 to 0-3 at the break but in view of the breeze, one wondered if it was enough.
Chris Kenneally, set up by Seán White, stretched the lead to five on the restart before Rangers had their first score in 23 minutes, from a John O’Rourke free, followed by one from play by Jerry O’Riordan. Rangers’ growing momentum was dealt a major blow in the 43rd minute when midfielder Ben Ridgeway burst through the centre of their defence and the referee ruled a penalty for a foul. Up stepped Darragh Gough to bury the spot kick superbly, Clon leading by 1-8 to 0-5 entering the last quarter.
The Rangers’ comeback began with a John O’Rourke free and he was to lead the charge during the closing stages, well supported by impressive subs James Fitzpatrick and Darragh Hayes.
‘We turned to the bench and it really paid dividends,’ said Hayes. ‘For a man of Johnno’s talent, he’s been written off too easily but he loves coming back to the club. He’s a different player when he comes back to us and gets time on the pitch. He got no game time with Cork and that baffles me. You saw what he could do out there today.’
Brian Hodnett, John O’Rourke and Peadar O’Rourke pointed to cut the lead to two with four minutes remaining, but when sub Fergal Murphy kicked Clon’s only point in the last quarter, the Brewery Town seemed to have weathered the Ross storm, 1-9 to 0-9 in front. Undaunted, back came Rangers and sub Darragh Hayes became the hero when he pointed twice, sandwiching a John O’Rourke point, to force a draw few would have foreseen 15 minutes earlier.
Clonakilty's Sean White in control against Carbery Rangers' Jack Kevane.
‘It would be hard to explain some of the referee’s decisions, especially that last one on Brian White, and they all seemed to go against us,’ explained a shell-shocked Clonakilty mentor Eoin Ryan. ‘That said, the players probably thought they had the game won after the penalty and switched off a bit.
‘We dominated for three quarters of an hour, played some great football, controlled the game and then let it slip badly. Now we’re faced with having to beat St Michael’s in the last game, simple as that, if we want to qualify for the play-offs.’
Scorers
Carbery Rangers: John O’Rourke 0-5 (3f); Brian Hodnett, Darragh Hayes 0-2 each; Jerry O’Riordan, Peadar O’Rourke, Paul Shanahan (f) 0-1 each.
Clonakilty: Darragh Gough 1-3 (1 pen, 1 mark, 1f); Conor Daly, Seán White 0-2 each; Chris Kenneally, Fergal Murphy 0-1 each.
Carbery Rangers: Paul Shanahan; Killian Eady, James O’Riordan, David O’Dwyer; Brian Hodnett, Jack Kevane, Tom O’Rourke; Jerry O’Riordan, Alan Jennings; Ciarán McCarthy, John Hodnett, John O’Rourke; Patrick Hurley, Mark Hodnett, Paul Hodnett.
Subs: Darragh Hayes for A Jennings (ht), Brian Shanahan for M Hodnett (36), James Fitzpatrick for T O’Rourke (45), Kelan Scannell for P Hurley (48), Peadar O’Rourke for P Hodnett (53).
Clonakilty: Mark White; Dan Peet, Thomas Clancy, Martin Scally; Seán White, Maurice Shanley, David Lowney; Ben Ridgeway, Griffin Wharton; Aaron Cullinane, Seán McEvoy, Chris Kenneally; Darragh Gough, Conor Daly, Ross Mannix.
Subs: Niall Barrett for A Cullinane (44), Fergal Murphy for R Mannix (51), Brian White for G Wharton (59).
Referee: Pa O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers).
