'It's a pity the new rules weren't there ten years ago' - Ross boss praise for John O'Rourke

While Carbery Rangers had been made to wait for a group-stage win in the county championships, they want the breaking of that duck to be the start of a journey rather than a destination.

Not since beating Éire Óg in the Premier SFC in 2022 had the Rosscarbery side come out on the right side of a game other than a relegation play-off.

Having come down from the top flight at the end of last year, they began their McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC campaign with a narrow loss to Cill na Martra. It meant the pressure was on before Saturday’s west Cork derby with O’Donovan Rossa but Rangers ran out 1-21 to 2-9 winners, leaving manager Robbie Ahern satisfied.

“We know we're a good team and we know we should be doing better,” he said.

“Look, it is nice to get it, there's no doubt about it. We knew if we came up with a performance that we should be able to win and we did that comfortably, which is very good.”

Against Cill na Martra, Ross had trailed by ten points at half-time but came back in the second half to lose by just one and that provided a springboard.

“There was plenty of positives from that game,” Ahern said.

“At the end of the day, there was only one kick of the ball in it. We were down plenty in that game and plenty didn't go our way – whether that was Cill na Martra doing things very well and maybe us doing things not so well.

“But, look, we've addressed them and to an extent, especially in the first half, we definitely addressed a lot of problems tonight.”

While Dylan O’Neill’s early goal put Ross 1-2 to 0-3 ahead on Saturday, Skibb immediately replied in kind through Dylan Hourihane Jnr. However, Ross scored 11 unanswered points between there and half-time, with Darragh Hayes providing a major scoring threat alongside O’Neill as they shook off the effects of the concession.

“Yeah, we have our way of playing, we have our principles,” Ahern said.

“Something happens in a game, this is the next ball, that one is gone, you just have to keep on going and they're very good at it.

“Against Skibb, in the first half, there was some excellent football – the second half, there was some good football too, but maybe the game slipped away, maybe not all down to ourselves.”

In the half-back line, former Cork star John O’Rourke excelled in a playmaking role.

“It's a pity for Johnno that the new rules didn't come in around ten years ago,” Ahern said, “because, look, he has absolutely everything.

“He’s the leader, he’s the fulcrum for the team, everyone else can feed off him and he was outstanding outside there today.

“It was really enjoyable to watch him and it was great to see it, to be honest. Scoring, setting up – I think he definitely set up the first two, if not three, scores for us – and he was

just creating, creating, creating, but also, he had turnovers, he was winning breaks, he was doing everything.”

It all leaves Ross in a good position as they prepare for a make-or-break game with Newmarket in a month – and without hurling distractions.

“I think there's plus and negatives to the hurling and the football,” Ahern said.

“I think the negative is if you lost or you didn't perform well. We won, we performed well, so that'll bring us into the next four weeks.

“It's happened before where we haven't played well and we've had to try and pick things up but we’re going in now in a good frame of mind.”