Nemo's great eight anchor Cork football team of the year

It was a selection arrived at after much deliberation and a healthy dose of disagreement here and there, plenty of back and forth over the most contentious positions

DOMINATING: Nemo Rangers captain Luke Connolly is one of eight Nemo players selected in the Cork football team of the year. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

In the end, the breakdown for the inaugural Clancy's Laochra Chorcaí Football Team of the Year came in at eight for champions Nemo Rangers, three for beaten finalists St Finbarr’s, two for Ballincollig, and one each for Castlehaven and Mallow.

It was a selection arrived at after much deliberation, a healthy dose of disagreement here and there, plenty of back and forth over the most contentious positions, and some further deliberation until the last of the disagreements and stalemates were resolved.

Occupying the selection seats were four teammates from Cork’s 2010 All-Ireland winning panel; Noel O’Leary, Colm O’Neill, Patrick Kelly, and John Hayes. The latter two are still tipping away for Ballincollig and Carbery Rangers respectively and so had first-hand experience from this year’s county championship of many of the players picked.

A certain amount of ribbing is to be expected when former teammates get together and so it began when Patrick Kelly was asked at the outset if he would be putting himself forward for a place on the team. It was a question he quickly turned on Rosscarbery’s Hayes. In the end, neither - unsurprisingly - made the cut.

Once the joking was out of the way, it was down to the serious business at hand.

Clancy's Laochra Chorcaí Football Team of the Year

The majority of Nemo’s eight were automatic picks, particularly in the case of their back four.

Between the sticks is Micheál Aodh Martin, the Nemo number one not conceding a single green flag from the seventh minute of their Round 2 game against Castlehaven to the 40th minute of their county final win over the Barrs.

In front of him on the team of the year are two men he spent the season looking out at, full-back Briain Murphy and left corner-back - arguably the most consistent club performer of the year - Kevin O’Donovan.

The remaining right corner-back position boiled down to three Barrs men; Jamie Burns, Sam Ryan, and Colm Scully. The four selectors were unanimous that the number two position should go to the sometimes overlooked and unheralded Burns.

The half-back line reads: Cian Kiely (Ballincollig), Stephen Cronin (Nemo Rangers), and Mattie Taylor (Mallow). The latter was the key figure in Mallow’s run to a county quarter-final in this their first year up in the premier senior ranks. Kiely was another consensus choice; the half-back having chipped in with a pair of points in three of Ballincollig’s five championship outings.

Of those to miss out on spots five through seven, Castlehaven’s Rory Maguire featured most in conversation. The same can be said of Barry O’Driscoll at midfield, the recalled Cork footballer at the heart of Carbery’s progression to a first county quarter-final appearance since 2013.

Taking the two midfield spots are Barrs general Ian Maguire and Nemo enforcer Alan O’Donovan.

Onto the half-forward line and there was never any fear of Nemo’s Conor Horgan being overlooked on account of his 1-3 county final contribution and three semi-final white flags. Brian Hurley was given the number 11 shirt, although there was plenty of chat about his Haven teammate Cathal Maguire and whether he might get a look in in either the half or full-forward line. The towering Brian Hayes completes the half-forward pick.

With just the inside line left to go, the four lads were readying their jackets for home.

What they hadn’t bargained for was it being the most contentious line on the field. The coats were a long time waiting.

Luke Connolly was the first name scribbled onto the sheet at left corner-forward. An obvious and easy choice. Impossible to look beyond a fella who finished the championship as joint top-scorer alongside Brian Hurley with 4-24 (2-14 from the dead-ball).

Then it got challenging. After all the half contenders were eliminated, there were three names remaining to fill two places. The three were Darren Murphy of Ballincollig, Nemo’s Barry O’Driscoll, and Steven Sherlock of the Barrs.

The long-serving O’Driscoll was first through the gap. The full-forward was noted for his crucial goal in Nemo’s quarter-final arm wrestle against Carbery Rangers and his exemplary use of possession throughout the championship.

And so, it came down to Sherlock versus Murphy.

The former was absent through injury for most of the Barrs’ opening two group games and had a quiet county final by his standards, but his was the individual display of the championship when kicking 1-6 from play in the semi-final.

As for Murphy, he threw over 3-14 this season, all bar one point of that total coming from play. He matched Sherlock’s 1-6 when taking the Carbery defence for 2-3 in the quarters.

In the end, Murphy got the nod.

Coats on, away home went the four lads.

*The winners will be honoured at an awards evening hosted by Clancys of Marlboro Street in the coming weeks.