SAFC: Karyn Graham proud of players as Clyda Rovers avoid relegation

A disappointing and frustrating McCarthy Insurance Group SAFC campaign ended on a bright note for Clyda Rovers on Saturday.

While three defeats in the group stage had condemned the Mourneabbey side to the relegation play-off, a strong finish gave them victory over O’Donovan Rossa at Páirc Uí Rinn on a 1-16 to 0-13 scoreline.

Having led by three as the end of normal time approached, Clyda were pegged back level going into injury time but a goal from Ben Nyhan helped them to push on, with late scores from Cian Walsh and the goalscorer ensuring their status was preserved.

There was a bittersweet sense of symmetry in the strong finish getting them over the line. In their opening group game, they led Kilshannig by three before their opponents hit them with a scoring flurry – had Clyda won that, it’s likely that they would have not have been involved in any relegation worries.

That night saw them lose star attacker Conor Corbett to a cruicate ligament injury and their scheduled second game against Éire Óg had to be refixed due to a bereavement in the club.

That they managed to produce a response with everything on the line was a matter of great pride for the team manager, Karyn Graham.

“Yeah look, this is the match nobody wants to be in, that’s one thing for sure,” she said.

“That bunch of young lads inside there, I can tell you, they're a bunch of warriors. Obviously, it's well-documented the troubles we've had during the year, but they're a very tight group with great unity and they've huge resilience.

“As a club, every one of us are very proud of them and we’re all just relieved that they live to fight another day, really and truly.”

Two years ago, Clyda also found themselves in the play-off, beating Kiskeam in Kanturk to remain in the second tier.

In 2025, they finished third in their group after one win and defeats of one and two points. While they were without Paudie Kissane on Saturday, the team has nevertheless built up experience through difficult days.

That stood to them when the need was greatest on Saturday and they will hope to take a bump from finishing the year on a win as they rest and reset before going again in 2027.

“Yeah look, that's it, we have a bit of experience built up,” Graham said.

“We're still an incredibly young team – I think we started with 12 under the age of 25 today, which is very young for senior football.

“We're missing our main man and things have been just a little bit difficult. They've just shown massive resilience and resolve.

“We live to fight another day and we’re just very happy.”