Nemo Rangers 1-16
St Finbarr’s 2-9
A FAMILIAR SIGHT at the Cork senior football summit, Nemo Rangers crowned champions once more on Leeside.
They landed their fifth crown in eight seasons today, reaffirming their position as the market leaders in the county. In the process they maintained their modern dominance over St Finbarr’s, taking down the reigning county and Munster champions.
Yet it was ultimately a white-knuckle ride to success for Nemo, a match they dominated for so long as they coasted clear by 11 points, culminated in phases of anxiety in the final quarter.
St Finbarr’s, listless for so long, finally roused themselves. They were energised by shots to the net from Brian Hayes and Billy Hennessy, while the free-taking of Steven Sherlock cut the deficit to a manageable three points with just four minutes of normal time left on the clock.
But Nemo’s rearguard held firm and substitute Kieran O’Sullivan rounded off the game with the insurance point, a score laid on for him by Paul Kerrigan, sprung from the bench to win his 10th county senior football medal with the club.
The scoring stars were Luke Connolly and Conor Horgan. Captain Connolly collected the man-of-the-match award, picking off eight points with his tally split between three from play and five from frees. His point in the 40th minute was an outrageous shot from the left corner, high into the air and landing inside the post.
Horgan’s contribution of 1-3 from play was just as valuable. He clipped over three opening half points and then five minutes into the second half, he eized on a misplaced kickout to impressively steer home his shot to the net
The first half featured a Nemo Rangers masterclass in dominating a game. They only conceded one point after the seventh minute and that stemmed from a free from Steven Sherlock twenty minutes in.
Nemo’s rearguard blotted out the St Finbarr’s attacking threat, swallowing players up in the tackle. On the one occasion they got clear sight of goal in the 21st minute, Micheál Aodh Martin bailed his team-mates out. First he stood up to repel a strike from Colin Lyons and then he reacted to the rebound from Sherlock, tipping a blistering shot around the post.
Nemo were ahead 0-9 to 0-4 at the interval. John Kerins in the St Finbarr’s goal smothered a Mark Cronin shot for goal before the break and tipped away a piledriver from Connolly early in the second half.
Still St Finbarr’s were struggling, behind 1-13 to 0-5 with 20 minutes remaining. They received a lifeline when Eoghan McGreevey’s vision saw him kick in a pass that released Brian Hayes and he rolled a left-foot shot to the net.
Nemo settled with quality points soon after from Kevin O’Donovan and Connolly to go nine clear. Then they shipped 1-3 without reply, Hennessy smashing home his goal in the 51st minute.
The ‘Barrs sensed a potential seismic comeback was in store but they couldn’t get closer. Nemo held firm and settled themselves to clinch victory.
Scorers for Nemo Rangers: Luke Connolly 0-8 (0-5f), Conor Horgan 1-3, Ronan Dalton 0-2, Barry O’Driscoll 0-1, Kevin O’Donovan 0-1, Kieran O’Sullivan 0-1.
Scorers for St Finbarr’s: Steven Sherlock 0-6 (0-5f), Brian Hayes 1-0, Billy Hennessy 1-0, Ian Maguire 0-1, Eoin McGreevey 0-1, Ben O’Connor 0-1.
Nemo Rangers
1. Micheál Aodh Martin
4. Kevin O’Donovan, 7. Kevin Fulignati, 2. Kieran Histon,
5. Ciaran McCartan, 3. Briain Murphy, 6. Stephen Cronin,
8. Barry Cripps, 9. Alan O’Donovan
10. Conor Horgan, 17. Ronan Dalton, 12. Jack Horgan
13. Mark Cronin, 14. Barry O’Driscoll, 15. Luke Connolly
Subs
11. Paul Kerrigan for Ronan Dalton (47)
18. Luke Horgan for Jack Horgan (54)
20. Ciaran Dalton for Conor Horgan (54)
24. Ciaran O’Sullivan for Fulignati (56)
19. Conor O’Donovan for Cripps (60)
St Finbarr’s
1. John Kerins
7. Alan O’Connor, 2. Sam Ryan, 6. Billy Hennessy
25. Colin Lyons, 3. Jamie Burns, 4. Colm Scully
8. Ian Maguire (captain), 9. Eoin Comyns
20. Eoin McGreevey, 12. Brian Hayes, 13. Enda Dennehy
10. Ethan Twomey, 15. Cillian Myers-Murray, 11. Steven Sherlock
Subs
14. Ben O’Connor for Twomey (half-time)
17. Dylan Quinn for Comyns (32)
5. Conor Dennehy for Myers-Murray (44)
21. Adam Lyne for Enda Dennehy (55)
Referee: Alan Long (Argideen Rangers)