Castlehaven 0-16
Nemo Rangers 1-11
BRIAN HURLEY KICKED 0-12 to help Castlehaven retain their Cork senior football crown in this afternoon’s final against Nemo Rangers at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The Cork senior was the star man for the West Cork club as they claimed back to back titles for the first time in their history after defeating Duhallow in last year’s decider.
Hurley’s attacking play was too much for Nemo Rangers to handle as Castlehaven overcame a narrow interval deficit to triumph.
Midfielder Sean Dineen gave a towering display for the winners while Cork senior Mark Collins was also magnificent.
Their defence was outstanding in the second-half as they limited Nemo Rangers to three points and only one of those was from play when James Masters kicked over at the death.
Masters and Paul Kerrigan had caused problems for Castlehaven in the first-half while Alan Cronin expertly finished to the net after being fed by a Dylan Mehigan delivery in the 27th minute for the only goal of the game.
That score pushed Nemo Rangers into a 1-8 to 0-7 lead but Castlehaven fought back before the interval with a trio of Hurley points, one from play and two from frees.
It had been a high quality opening period which featured some stunning score taking and Castlehaven were unlucky not to hit the net themselves in the 22nd minute but Mark Collins shot crashed off the bar after a great team move.
Nemo Rangers started the second-half brightly but could not put scores on the board. Barry O’Driscoll was off target from frees whereas at the other end Hurley continued to punish Nemo.
His 43rd minute point levelled the teams at 1-9 to 0-12 before he then grabbed another brace and set up Seanie Cahalane for a point to push them three points clear.
From there Castlehaven closed out the game as they defended stoutly and retained possession cleverly to wind down the clock.
They now go forward to a quarter-final meeting in the AIB Munster senior club football championship with the winners of next Sunday’s Kerry final between Dr Crokes and Austin Stacks.
Captain Seanie Cahalane lifts the cup
Pic: INPHO/James Crombie
Scorers for Castlehaven: Brian Hurley 0-12 (0-7f), Stephen Hurley, Shane Nolan, Seanie Cahalane, Chris Hayes 0-1 each.Scorers for Nemo Rangers: Paul Kerrigan (0-3f, 0-1 ’45), James Masters (0-2f) 0-5 each, Alan Cronin Snr 1-0, Barry O’Driscoll 0-1 (0-1f).
CASTLEHAVEN: Paudie Hurley; Liam Collins, David Limrick, Tomas O’Leary; Damien Cahalane, Roland Whelton, Chris Hayes; Sean Dineen, Dermot Hurley; Eoin Dennehy, Mark Collins, Stephen Hurley; Sean Cahalane, Brian Hurley, Shane Nolan.
Subs: Michael Hurley for Dennehy (36), Dan Hegarty for Nolan (51), Shane Hurley for Sean Cahalane (58), Stephen Collins for Hayes (58).
NEMO RANGERS: Darren Farry; Sean McKeown, Brian O’Regan, Alan Cronin Junior; Colin O’Brien, Kevin Fulignati, Aidan O’Reilly; David Nation, Peter Morgan; Barry O’Driscoll, Alan Cronin Senior, Dylan Mehigan; James Masters, Paul Kerrigan, Alan Morgan.
Subs: Stephen Cronin for McKeown (26), David Niblock for Nation (36), Ciaran O’Shea for O’Reilly (50).
Referee: Conor Lane (Banteer)
