Division 3 FL: Gary Deane delivers as Clyda Rovers stun Mallow with last-gasp goal
Mallow’s Jack Dillon tackles Clyda Rovers’ Eoin Walsh during their Division 3 football league match in Mourneabbey. Picture Chani Anderson
Clyda Rovers snatched a dramatic win from the jaws of defeat with a 66th-minute goal to edge out Mallow in their McCarthy Insurance Group Football League Division 3 clash at Mourneabbey on Sunday morning.
For the majority of the contest, the game was a slog. Stretches of both halves drifted by without scores, and with 52 minutes played, Mallow clung to a slender one-point lead, 1-6 to 0-8. Despite their need for victory to keep promotion hopes alive, Mallow had been guilty of playing too safe – too many bodies deep, too many lateral passes, and not enough incision.
Eventually, they upped the tempo. Aidan Bolster fed Jack Dillon, who teed up Kevin Sheehan for a tidy point. Two in it.
Time passed. Clyda couldn’t find a way through, until they won a crucial free just outside the arc. Eoin Walsh – outstanding throughout – calmly slotted over the two-pointer to level the game for the first time in the 61st minute.
Five more minutes of added time followed. Mallow looked to restore their lead and were gifted an opportunity when Trevor Kiely was fouled, and David Walsh penalised for not returning the ball. The free was brought forward, and Sheehan made no mistake. One-point game.
All they had to do was hold the ball. They couldn’t. Mallow worked a decent shooting opportunity, but Eoin Kelleher’s effort tailed wide. That was the break Clyda needed.
Darragh Buckley launched the counter, surging forward before linking with Cian O’Sullivan. He timed the handpass perfectly, looping it over the top to Gary Deane. With Kevin Doyle charging off his line, Deane coolly slotted into the bottom corner. The 66th-minute winner sent Clyda’s sideline wild.
They started brightly, racing into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead within four minutes. Shane Merritt found Dillon for a point just 13 seconds in, before Michael O’Rourke and Bolster combined to set up Kelleher for a palmed goal. Gearóid Daly added another point to stretch the gap to five, but Clyda chipped away steadily to bring it back to two by the 20th minute.
Two more points for Mallow restored a four-point cushion, which they would hold at the break, 1-5 to 0-4.
The second half continued in a similar fashion – both sides tacking on early scores before the game slipped back into a lull. It was 1-6 to 0-5 by the 33rd minute and stayed that way for over 10 more minutes. Then came the chaos. And with it, a Clyda victory.
E Walsh 0-5 ( 1 tpf, 0-2 f), G Deane 1-0, A Kelly 0-2, C O’Sullivan, P O’Grady, D Buckley 0-1 each.
E Kelleher 1-1, K Sheehan 0-3 (0-2 f), T Kiely 0-2, J Dillon, G Daly 0-1 each.
K Coffey; A Walsh, C Kelly, M Forde; D Buckley, G Deane, S Kelly; P Kissane, D Walsh (c); P Ryan, A Kelly, E Walsh; P O’Grady, C O’Sullivan, S O’Sullivan.
Cathal Corbett for Ryan (39), C Flanagan for S O’Sullivan (40), F O’Shea for A Kelly (56).
K Doyle; B Myres, P Lyons, D O’Connor; T Kiely, G Daly, P Britton; S Merritt, A Bolster; J Glynn, J Dillon (c), M O’Rourke; K Sheehan, J O’Keeffe, E Kelleher.
C Mullins for Britton (39), R McAuliffe for Bolster (59).
Ciarán Murphy (Glanworth)
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