Injury time point sees Clyda Rovers emerge victors
FERMOY CREDIT UNION
JUNIOR ‘A’ FC Clyda Rovers 1-16 Fermoy 3-9 FOLLOWING a thrilling Fermoy Credit Union JAFC contest at Castletownroche on Friday evening Roy Willis's last gasp point deep in stoppage time saw Clyda Rovers emerge victors over Fermoy by the narrowest of margins,
Despite the sides being all square at 0-1 each early on when Trevor Grumbridge and Declan Roche pointed it was Fermoy that showed the greater teamwork as they surged forward at every given opportunity at speed.
In the fourth minute a sweeping movement resulted in James Campion cutting through the Clyda defence to score the games opening goal and when a delivery by Paudie Shanahan deceived the Rovers defence in the 21st minute it led to a Donal Galvin scoring their second goal as they raced into a 2-3 to 0-3 lead.
Clyda Rovers regrouped well from this set back and in the run up to the break they shaded matters. A great solo run by the hardworking Kyle Crowley saw the same player place Colin Ronayne for a point. Over the next couple of minutes Declan Roche and David Forde traded a point each with the Rovers being denied a goal scoring chance just before the break when Chris O'Connell's shot at goal struck the crossbar with the rebound going over for a point as they trailed at the interval by 2-4 to 0-7.
On the changeover Fermoy were quick into the action with Trevor Grumbridge setting up second half substitute Mark McGurr for an early point. However Clyda Rovers started the second half as they finished the opening half taking the game to their opponents from the offset with Roy Willis, Colin Ronayne, Chris O'Connell, Sean Ronayne, Kyle Crowley, Declan Roche and Donal O'Mullane featuring strongly and by the 35th minute they had the lead down to just a point 2-5 to 0-10.
As the half went on Fermoy quickly found their composure and in the next attack a quick free by Darragh O'Carroll resulted in key forward James Campion scoring his second goal and it helped them hold a 36 to 0-11 lead by the 43rd minute.
Clyda Rovers with their never say die attitude refused to panic and at the end of the third quarter they missed a goal scoring chance when an alert Fermoy keeper Rory Clancy denied Roy Willis from close range at the expense of a point. Nevertheless they made amends from the kickout when Chris O'Connell won possession and in turn set up Colin Ronayne for a well taken goal to level matters at 3-6 to 1-12.
In a thrilling finish Fermoy with Darragh O'Carroll, James Campion, Shane Aherne, Trevor Grumbridge and Paudie Shanahan pivotal figures looked to have seen off the Rovers revival when Mark McGurr and Donal Galvin reeled off rapid points by the 54th minute. However the Rovers continued to battle away and they were back on parity when Declan Roche and Colin Ronayne were on target with three minutes remaining 3-8 to 114 With extra time looming both teams went in search of match wining scores.
They were level again at 3-9 to 1-14 when James Campion and Kyle Crowley swapped a point each. In injury time Fermoy missed a chance to take the lead when an effort for a point came back off the upright and it was the Rovers that broke down the field with Donal O'Mullane and Kyle Crowley combining well to set up Roy Willis who kicked over the match winning score from long range. CLYDA ROVERS: Conor O'Donoghue, Cathal Green, Robert Walsh, Pa Forde, Donal O'Callaghan, Roy Willis 0-6, William Cronin, Chris O'Connell 01, Sean Ronayne, Colin Ronayne 1-3, Donal O'Mullane, Ronan Flanagan, Kyle Crowley 0-2, Declan Roche 0-4 (0-1f), Michael Linehan. Subs: Diarmuid Ronayne for William Cronin, Donal Stack for Pa Forde, Michael Forde for Donal O'Callaghan, Tadgh O'Connor for Colin Ronayne (black card) FERMOY: R Clancy, D Forde 0-1, D Conran, B O'Callaghan, A Forde, J Pyne, B Barry, S Aherne, P Shanahan, M Flynn, D O'Carroll 0-1, J Ring, J Campion 2-3, D Galvin 1-1 (0-1f) T Grumbridge 01. Subs: C O'Keeffe for D Conran (inj) M McGurr 0-2 for J Ring, C O'Carroll for B Barry, R O'Hagan for P Shanahan (inj) REFEREE: Justin Murphy (Castletownroche)