Nemo Rangers: Always meeting and exceeding their own elevated standards

The Nemo Rangers team celebrate with the cup after the 2020 Cork Premier SFC final win over Castlehaven. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

They've 21 of these things already in captivity on the back Douglas Road. They were also hunting a fourth title in six campaigns at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. Nemo’s got pedigree here.

On Castlehaven’s list of things to avoid, spotting Trabeg’s finest a 1-4 to 0-1 leg-up in the first 10 minutes of the Cork Premier SFC final must have been in the priority category.

Here’s the thing: Nemo lost their dangerous inside forward, Mark Cronin, after four minutes, a seriously disruptive loss. Ciaran Dalton ambled off the bench and into Cronin’s inside slot, and three minutes later was behind the Haven cover for the game’s first goal. In terms of setting the Sunday rules of engagement, it was brutal and emphatic.

Every time Castlehaven’s admirable energy and toil got them within reach of their opponents, Nemo artfully slipped out of reach again.

Conor Horgan was a persistent menace inside, despite not scoring. Over the course of this 2020 Premier SFC final, played in front of a restricted 2,423 spectators and 329 days after the semi-final, Nemo served up the key aces at key moments.

Haven’s points were facile at times, but their attempts to penetrate deeper and strike in the red zone foundered time and again, occasionally for the want of a forward to test Micheál Martin’s mettle. A little too much pass the parcel, even if most were half chances.

Michael Hurley and his brother Brian were elusive and dangerous, and contributed 11 of the Haven’s 13 points, but neither showed the inclination for the jugular of their county colleague, Luke Connolly. The Mercurial One flashed impressively into the final — doesn’t he always? — before he struck decisively in the 38th minute.

Nemo Ranger's manager Paul O'Donovan after defeating Castlehaven. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Damien Cahalane was posted on his shoulder throughout, hooshing Conolly out of harm’s way, but a momentary loss of concentration permitted the Nemo man to slip in the back door and goal. At the time, Castlehaven only trailed 1-5 to 0-7. Now the hill looked steeper.

Again, they pointed twice and had a goal sniff come and go via Cathal Maguire, the full forward. Meanwhile, his Nemo counterpart, Paul Kerrigan, was dropping deeper and deeper, but paradoxically influencing the game more and more.

Kerrigan will be 35 in December and, though he’d still fancy himself over 50m, his interventions are more sporadic these days; more thought, less thrust. He was involved at several junctures in the lead up to a third Nemo goal in the 46th minute when Connolly slipped the full back, Rory Maguire — though the Haven man slipped himself, in all honesty — to deliver the inevitable coup de grace.

A five-point deficit mightn’t seem insurmountable, but no-one inside the ground truly believed Nemo were going to cough up the title in the last 15 minutes.

Perhaps this was partly due to the efficiency of Stephen Cronin as the sweeper, a role he has perfected to such a degree that occasional masterclasses, a la Dean Rock, are under consideration. Around him, Colin O’Brien tucked in and Kevin O’Donovan broke even in a good tussle with Jack Cahalane. On any Nemo list of things to do, matching Castlehaven’s energy and intensity was a must. For the greater part of the final, Nemo achieved that and the embodiment of their approach was in the graft of midfielder Alan O’Donovan, who vied with Cronin for MVP.

To the great majority of Cork football followers, the destination of the Andy Scannell Cup this year is a matter of minor import. There are greater issues at play, not least whether Ronan McCarthy will still be manager for the new campaign.

Nemo Rangers captain Micheal Aodh Martin raises the Andy Scannel Cup. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

What they are looking for is an infusion of new talent and promise and, to that end, one only hopes the knee injury to Mark Cronin is inconsequential.

What is also fundamental to future success for Cork football is a deviation from the provincial championship route to the latter stages of the All-Ireland Championship. That will come in the next few months. Falling to Kerry has become tiresome and dispiriting and a disincentive for prospective management and players. With hurling on the rise again, Cork football needs every help it can get.

However, what is undeniable in domestic terms is Nemo’s pride in their standards and success. The 22nd title will be toasted before they begin preparing for this season’s championship. It starts in a matter of days and any side, like their first opponents Valley Rovers, can expect the sternest of challenges.

Although he was black-carded for a spell in the second half, the display of defender Kieran Histon was in keeping with Nemo’s compact set-up and his success noteworthy for the fact he was completing a rare dual county senior title win, having been corner back in Imokilly’s hurling title success of 2017. Those who know better say that his Cobh clubmate, Mick Daly, was the last to do so in 1998 (Imokilly) and 2001 (Nemo).

Castlehaven got Brian Hurley and his hamstring through the 60-odd minutes and, while an eight-point total was a fine afternoon’s work (six from frees), at full throttle, his interrogation of the Nemo defensive shape might have been that bit more dynamic and robust.

With five minutes remaining, it was appropriate that Kerrigan orchestrated the score of the day for the champions, switching the play from side to side before presenting the gift-wrapped opportunity from a favourable position for midfielder James McDermott.

Another point. Another title. Efficiency at work.