Patrick Kelly: Brave and smart, Nemo drew on traditional final knowhow

30th October 2022 Nemo Rangers players and supporters celebrate after defeating St. Finbarr's in the Bon Secours Cork County Premier Senior Football Championship final at at Pairc Ui Chaoimh . Picture; Eddie O'Hare

Going into yesterday’s final I felt that St Finbarr's had been operating at a higher level of intensity than anybody else in the county, Nemo Rangers included, over the past two seasons, and that this would be enough to power them over the line for a famous double. Nemo, as they have done time and time again, proved why it takes a brave, if not foolish, man to bet against them in finals. They produced their best display of the year when it was needed most.

Right from the off Nemo were on it. They got everything spot on from match-ups to their tactical approach. This was the first time since their opening encounter in July against Castlehaven that a team hadn’t gone with what could be described as defensive tactics against them. Newcestown, Clonakilty, Carbery Rangers and to a lesser extent ourselves, Ballincollig, paid them the respect of dropping numbers and looking to stifle their attacking threats. St Finbarr's, as expected, went toe to toe with Nemo and as a result we were treated to a traditional Nemo masterclass of accurate kick passing and lovely forward interplay.

The adage of “hammer the hammer” comes to mind when looking at Nemo’s abrasive approach. Knowing the Barrs rely on runners from deep creating overloads and goal chances, Nemo bravely pressed right up and stopped the Barrs at source. A feature of the game was the physicality Nemo brought to the middle third which resulted in energy-sapping turnovers. Barry Cripps was handed the role of curtailing Ian Maguire which he did superbly. This coming two years after he did a similarly excellent job in nullifying the midfield threat of Mark Collins in the 2020 final shows the faith and esteem he is held in. 

Alongside him, Alan O’Donovan was his usual combative self, setting the tone with workrate and tackling that the Barrs struggled to cope with. The Barrs are a team who rarely look to kick long into the forward line so the Nemo gamble of leaving their inside defenders two-on-two in acres of space was never really exploited.

It was Nemo’s successful matchups in defence that really caught the eye. Briain Murphy was tasked with tracking Brian Hayes and he did so expertly forcing a few early turnovers and using possession well. With both Maguire and Hayes bottled up this negated most of the Barrs' running threat. They rely heavily on runners through the middle to create opportunities for Steven Sherlock on the loop. This lack of supply and the excellence of Kevin O’Donovan in marshalling Sherlock meant the Barrs struggled for any fluency and scores. 

O’Donovan is every scoring forward’s nightmare, touch tight defensively but also bombs forward at every opportunity. He was vital to Nemo’s success. Another defender who won’t get the same plaudits but who is always so crucial to Nemo was Stephen Cronin. Operating at number six his reading of the game and his calmness in possession gives Nemo huge solidity and platform. A feature of the game was Nemo’s greater use of possession and in general a more natural-looking footballing style.

Speaking of natural, one must look no further than Nemo’s attacking players. The individual brilliance is well heralded, but it was their style and interplay that shone through. Central to this was Mark Cronin, who despite not scoring was excellent as their link man. His movement allowed Nemo to kick pass over the aggressive Barrs press and from there Nemo had the Barrs at sixes and sevens. 

Ronan Dalton and Conor Horgan were excellent with cleverly timed runs and lethal finishes ensuring the Barrs had more to think about than just Luke Connolly. With Barry O’Driscoll playing as unselfishly and intelligently as ever Luke was left one-on-one and he showcased his mercurial talents with some outrageous scores and assists. Having been dropped from the Cork panel earlier this year he has given the perfect response, leading his club to a league and championship double as captain with a man of the match display in the final to boot.

Nemo also boxed cleverly on both kickouts. The Barrs go zonal pressing opposition kickouts hoping to force the keeper long where Maguire tends to dominate. Instead, Micheál Martin picked out corner backs and midfielders dropping deep to maintain possession and gain a foothold. At the other end they squeezed aggressively on John Kerins’ kickout covering outside the Barrs midfielders ensuring a contest and putting savage pressure on short kickouts. This paid off to maximum effect with Conor Horgan’s precision lob.

For Nemo, attention will now turn to a very winnable Munster, with their name being mentioned in the same breath as Kilmacud Crokes and Kilcoo as possible All-Ireland winners. The Barrs will dust themselves off and come again. The challenge for the rest of us is to close the gap to the undisputed big three (add Castlehaven) at present in Cork football. 

Interestingly, following St.Michaels’ victory in the Senior A grade, of the 21 teams who will compete in the Premier Senior Football Grade in 2023, seven of those clubs are located on the south side of the city with Carrigaline, St Michael's, Nemo Rangers, Douglas, St Finbarr's, Ballincollig and Éire Óg. Population and playing numbers aren’t the only reason for this, but the condensed nature of the split season will make it very difficult for clubs with a higher proportion of dual players to compete at the highest level going forward.

Previous Nemo final whistle celebrations have seemed muted given the ease with which they have come but this one felt different with an outpouring of emotion. Their fifth county title in eight seasons makes them undoubtedly the standard bearers in Cork football. It’s hard to beat tradition.