Late Alan O’Donovan goal clinches dramatic hurling final victory for 14-man Nemo
Joy for Nemo Rangers as captain Barry Cripps lifts the cup after their win in the Co-Op Superstores Junior A Hurling Championship Final. Picture: Larry Cummins
Just when you thought Nemo Rangers couldn’t find a more dramatic way to win a match.
Their place in this Cork Junior A Hurling final was secured thanks to a Jack Horgan goal which proved to be the last puck of the ball in their one-point semi-final triumph against Ballinora.
But at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday, they topped it.
This time it was in the showpiece occasion with the silverware on the line. This time they trailed by a goal into the period added on for stoppages. This time they were playing with a man disadvantage following midfielder Peter Collins’ dismissal.
But yet again they found a way. Nemo Rangers always find a way.
Two points from the excellent Shane Horgan, who claimed 10 points in total, and a goal from Alan O’Donovan when they only needed a point to draw level secured another dramatic win to add to their long list of dramatic wins.
The celebrations from their players, coaches and fans alike when the full-time whistle was blown may have also topped anything produced by their footballers as the city club landed their first Junior A Hurling title in 23 years, the second in their illustrious history.
“It’s 2000 since we’ve won a hurling cup so it’s huge for our club,” said manager Sean Hayes.
“The roar when we got the goal against Ballinora, I think the likes of it had never been heard in Nemo before. I can’t comment on the one today because I nearly died when it went in.
“As club, it’s hurling and football club, we’ve been saying that all year and everyone has come in behind it.
“A lot of these guys have played with Cork, a lot of them have played senior football and have county medals so it was just transferring that to the hurling field, and they gave all that, we’re delighted with them.
“We’re hoping things will improve, keep improving so it’s great to get the win, it’s a big stepping strong.” It wasn’t until the 13th minute the first wide of this frantic final was struck and there would only be one more shot missing the target before referee Brian Sweeney of Erin’s Own blew the half time whistle.
Both those wides belonged to Harbour Rovers but it mattered little to the men from Glanworth/ Ballindangan region as shortly after Stephen Condon split the posts from play and then from a 65 to make it 0-7 to 0-5, they raised the first green flag of the contest through the lively Darragh O’Brien.
Nemo goalkeeper James Masters, who has nine Cork senior football titles to his name, inspired his supporters into chanting N-E-M-O moments with a sensational double save to deny corner forwards O’Brien and Emmett Sheehan’s thunderous strikes.
But Masters, who was also involved with the Rangers hurlers the last time and only time they lifted this title, couldn’t deny the pacy O’Brien’s next effort as the number 13 surged away from his marker before batting the ball into the back of the net.
But Nemo would finish the half strongly and another superbly taken free from Shane Horgan and an excellent score from open play by Colm Kiely kept them firmly in the hunt for the silverware heading into the second period, 1-7 to 0-7.
Harbour tallied the first score of the second half through Stephen Condon but Nemo, led by Shane Horgan, responded with three unanswered points to put just one behind the teams, 1-8 to 0-10.
But their comeback suffered a huge blow in the 40th minute when Collins was shown a straight red card.
Rovers would make good use of their man advantage as they scored four of the next six points to lead 1-12 to 0-12 heading into injury time.
There is a case that it should now be called ‘Nemo time’ as the club again showcased their never-say-die attitude as two points from Shane Horgan and pulled finish from Alan O’Donovan snatched the glory from Harbour Rovers’ grasp.
: S Horgan (0-10, 8fs), A O’Donovan (1-0), C Kiely (0-2), M Cronin and K O’Donovan (0-1 each).
S Condon (0-9, 5fs, 1 65), D O’Brien (1-1), T McGrath and J O’Sullivan (0-1 each).
: J Masters; S Cronin, P Morgan, B Murphy; B O’Neil, K O’Donovan, J Coogan; P Collins, J Kearney; M Cronin, B Cripps, S Horgan; C Kiely, R Dalton, A O’Donovan.
Subs: C Horgan for J Kearney (ht), J Horgan for C Kiely (42), E Dilloughery for R Dalton (49).
D O’Sullivan; B O’Keeffe, E O’Donoghue, J Fogarty ; J Walsh, S Finn, J Coughlan ; J Fitzgibbon, T Condon ; J O’Sullivan, P Condon, D Pyne ; D O’Brien, S Condon, E Sheehan.
Subs: T McGrath for E Sheehan (41), P Hannon for J Fitzgibbon (48), P Blackburn for J Walsh (58), M Wade for J O’Sullivan (59).
: Brian Sweeney (Erin’s Own).
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