Nemo too strong for Kerrymen

Nemo Rangers 0-16 Kerins O’Rahillys 1-7

However, even with Colin Corkery off the field injured at that stage, Nemo Rangers finished the stronger to guarantee a place in the Munster club football final for the third successive year. They will meet Monaleen in the decider. However, manager Billy Morgan felt that his side were unnecessarily vulnerable at the three-quarters stage: "We should have been home and dry then, but we made a lot of mistakes in the first quarter of the second half. We had chances but we failed to put them away. We were a bit casual. Kerins O'Rahillys coach Eoin Liston acknowledged the significance of the Cork champions' superior experience. Liston added it was arguably the Tralee side's 'worst display' of the season.

"But, I'm not going to blame our lads," he said. "They achieved their main objective, which was winning the Kerry county championship. It was a new experience for them, to come down from such a high and try and get back up again."

After falling three points behind early on, the best that Kerins O'Rahillys managed in the first half was to be level in another six minutes. Kevin Cahill, afterwards chosen as the AIB man-of-the-match, continually frustrated big midfielder Micheal Quirke by denying him clean possession. Additionally, Nemo also won the bulk of the broken ball. And, even without Colin Corkery not being involved until such time as better ball was delivered his way when he had the beating of Barry O'Shea Nemo always looked much more threatening in attack, where Alan Cronin did well. Back in defence Martin Cronin was always in control at centre-back, late replacement Mick Daly also did well and in general the Nemo defenders not only covered well but combined very effectively.

With Corkery hitting over a 55-yard free in the 16th minute and then pointing from play after good work by Derek and Joe Kavanagh, Nemo steadily increased their grip on the play. Kerins O'Rahillys just managed one more point and trailed 0-9 to 0-4 at the break.

A number of alterations by Kerins O'Rahillys the most notable of which brought Ger O'Brien to midfield in a swap with Timmy O'Sullivan failed to raise the level of their performance.

Interestingly however, two Quill scores cancelled out frees from Corkery before he limped off with a hamstring injury after 42 minutes.

"It happened late in the first half and after getting a rub I said I'd see how it went," Corkery explained. "But, it was not right."

At the time, his departure didn't really concern Nemo because they retained control. However, the goal that O'Rahillys needed so badly came in the 50th minute through a well-taken Garett Walsh penalty which seemed a doubtful enough award against Alan Cronin, who was deep in his own defence, tracking Morgan O'Shea.

That just left two points between the sides but the next score came from Nemo, a fine score from substitute Dylan Mehigan. And, with former All-Ireland minor captain James Masters proving a more than able replacement for Corkery (hitting over two points from play and one from a free), Nemo cruised to victory.

Paddy Russell had a relatively simple job of refereeing and performed it with efficiency.

Scorers: Nemo Rangers C. Corkery 0-5 (0-3 frees); J. Masters 0-3 (0-1 free); W. Morgan 0-2; A. Cronin, D. Kavanagh, K. Cahill, M. Daly, D. Mehigan and G. Murphy 0-1 each.

Kerins O'Rahillys: D. Quill 0-5 (0-1 free, 0-1 fifty); G. Walsh 1-0 pen; J. O'Connor and J.W. O'Connor 0-1 each.

NEMO RANGERS: D. Heaphy; L. Kavanagh, N. Geary, Sean O'Brien; G. Murphy, M. Cronin, M. Daly; K. Cahill, D. Kavanagh; M. McCarthy, J.P. O'Neill, A. Cronin; J. Kavanagh, C. Corkery, W. Morgan. Subs: J. Masters for Corkery (injured 43rd); D. Meehan for O'Neill (51st); L. O'Sullivan for Morgan (60th).

KERINS O'RAHILLYS: D. Sweeney; M. O'Shea (capt.), B. O'Shea, K. Savage; J. Kelly, G. Walsh, P. O'Connor; M. Quirke, T. O'Sullivan; G. O'Brien, G. Molloy, O. Molloy; D. Quill, A. Murphy, J. O'Connor. Subs: J.W. O'Connor for Murphy (injured, 37th minute); P. Heaslip for Kelly (43rd); P. Madden for O'Connor (51st); C. Magnier for O. Molloy.

Referee: P. Russell (Tipperary).

*Before the game, a minute's silence was observed in memory of the late Denis Allen Snr., former President of Nemo Rangers.