'Sweet one, but we move on' — Kilshannig boss refuses to linger on long-overdue win over Clyda

Kilshannig boss Richie Ryan hailed the character and resilience of his side after they dug out a 2-13 to 2-11 victory over neighbours Clyda Rovers in Wednesday’s McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC Group 3 opener in Charleville — a first championship win over their rivals since 1985.

A crowd was always going to gather for this one, given the history between the clubs.

Kilshannig’s celebrations at the final whistle on Wednesday underlined exactly what it means to the people of Glantane and the surrounding areas.

For Ryan, in his first season as manager, the importance of the result was huge.

“The big thing is just to get out of the group,” he said post-match.

“To win the first one takes a bit of pressure off. That’s the biggest thing. This is the perfect start. Clyda Rovers went up by a few points at various stages, but every time they went ahead we pulled them back really quick.

“We finished very strong, which is very positive. Scoring — was it 1-2 there late on — that was huge. We knew that we would finish strong.” 

The win carried extra weight given the long wait for a championship victory over Clyda Rovers.

“There’s a big rivalry there, a healthy rivalry,” Ryan says.

“We haven’t beaten them since 1985, so it’s easy enough to figure out it’s going to be a sweet one. It means a lot, but look, we won the first group game last year and didn’t get out of the group. We have to keep working hard.” 

Kilshannig’s Division 3 League form had been patchy this year, but Ryan said that was down to circumstances rather than performance. They have come good when it mattered, even though there’s still a long way to go.

“We just had a pile of injuries,” he explained.

“In March we had over 20 fellas unavailable at one stage, so it was very hard to win league games then. But we did have a strong finish — we beat Bishopstown, we drew with Aghabullogue, and we beat Mallow. That really got us going and we got a fair bit of momentum from that.

“Momentum is massive. We are going very well lately and all the injuries are starting to clear up, thank God.” 

The spread of scorers was another major positive. Diarmuid O’Sullivan, named to start but introduced off the bench, kicked two excellent points.

“We never rely on just one player,” Ryan states.

“We don’t have anyone standing out for scores — there was a good spread this evening, a lot of different scorers. That’s just the usual for us.

“You can’t question fitness or character out there. They certainly never gave up, and we finished very strong.” 

On a personal level, stepping up from selector to manager hasn’t changed his outlook.

“It doesn’t matter what your title is. The big thing is just to win. That’s all that matters. We have Bishopstown next and then Éire Óg.

“There’s no easy group in this competition. At least we have a win — it steers you away from relegation talk for the moment. If we could just get out of the group, it’d be a good year for us, a big improvement. That’s all we’re looking for.”