Solid Clyda Rovers will need to find that little bit extra

Cork Star, Ray Carey was brilliant in his full-back position, powering out of the defence with the ball in hand on several occasions when he was second favourite for possession.

Wing-forward Cian O’Sullivan also showed his value with a brace of nice points with James Murphy rattling over four (three frees) during his shift however in general this game was lost up front as the forwards failed to deal with some good ball and never really looked like breaking through for a badly needed goal. For the victors it was all smiles at the finish after they banished their memories of a first round loss to Valley Rovers.

Hayes was the hero for the west Cork side as he bagged the crucial goal on 44 minutes which ultimately decided this tie. Clyda can consider themselves unlucky that the goal was given after a clear pull on their defender as the ball came in.

Keeper Conor O’Donoghue will have nightmares about the goal after it was his poor kick-out that went straight to a Ross Carbery hand which ultimately saw the ball make its way to the net.

Some Clyda players were understandably annoyed at the decision to let the goal stand, however, stand it did. Despite this decision the boys in black and amber managed to drag themselves back level on 50 minutes after points from O’Sullivan and Conor Flanagan but Clyda were unable to push on from this and they fell two behind again to points from James Fitzpatrick and Christopher O’Donovan.

These scores proved just too much for Clyda to recover from as they finally succumbed to a Carbery Rangers side that in truth were well worth the win. Clyda will need to get back on the horse quickly if they are to save their season.

There is little doubt that the style of play adopted by Clyda means that they don’t tend to concede many scores however this also means that they don’t often rack up big scores, but if they are to avoid another nail-biting encounter in round three they will have to get a little more expansive, which should be well within their capabilities considering some of the talented players they have at their disposal.