Nemo punish Douglas to take major step towards knockouts
Nemo's Alan O'Donovan takes the dropping ball from Douglas player Kevin Shanahan. Pic: David Creedon
Nemo Rangers punished an errant Douglas side to take a major step towards the knockout stages of the Cork Premier SFC.
Their near neighbours were the last team to knock Nemo out at the group stage, back in 2021, but they left no room for doubt here with an eight-point triumph.
Conor Horgan fired 1-2 and Mark Cronin added six points in a game which was over long before half-time, when Nemo led by 1-11 to 0-2.
Both sides ended with 14 men as they lost their No. 8s for second yellow cards. David Buckley was sent marching in the 47th minute, and Alan O’Donovan at the end of stoppage time.
Shane Kingston was a notable addition to the Douglas team and a rare bright spark. He ended with 0-5, kicked off of right and left. Between himself and substitute Seán Coakley, who landed 1-2, they accounted for all of their scores.
Kevin Fulignati came in for Nemo, although Paul Kerrigan and Ross Corkery remained absent. They meet St Michael's next, while Douglas must face Ballincollig.
The losers paid a heavy price for some mindless errors and wayward kicking, whether aiming for the posts or a teammate. Nemo were ruthless in the first half, converting 1-11 from 13 shots against their neighbours’ 0-2 from eight attempts.
Nemo’s opening two-pointer originated from an off-the-ball foul. Rather than take a long-range punt, Cronin played it short and, three passes later, the hotshot had the ball back in his hands right on the arc. Up went the orange flag.
Cronin punished the first of a spate of careless Douglas passes with a driving run to tee up Horgan.
Kingston opened the Douglas account in eye-catching fashion, beating two men with his footwork and pace to convert from a tricky angle. But Nemo would take them for 1-4 without reply between the 19th and 24th minutes.
Nathan Walsh spoiled a turnover by picking the ball off the ground just outside the arc. Again, Cronin applied the two-point penalty.
Another misplaced pass led to Ronan Dalton’s opener. Then, after Conor Russell’s blast on goal was beaten away by Micheál Aodh Martin, Nemo countered with a long kick pass for Bryan Hayes’ first.
The goal originated from a Douglas free-kick passed straight to a Nemo player. After much probing, Horgan carved the defence apart by following a precise kick pass to take the return ball from Dalton and drill low to the net.
After a Kingston response, Nemo replicated the same move twice more before the break. The first resulted in a Dalton two-pointer. The second could’ve yielded a Bríain Murphy goal, only for the return pass to miss its target.
They also sliced through the middle for Kevin O’Donovan and Kieran Histon points to leave it 1-11 to 0-2 at half-time.
Mark Hill came up with two early blockdowns to protect that lead. Kingston picked up the crumbs for his and Douglas’s third point; this time booted off his left.
Needing a lifeline, they pressed up on the kick-out. Luis Dwan-Fogarty won the ball and sent it back in for substitute Coakley to turn his marker and lob Martin; 1-11 to 1-3.
The sides traded further goal chances, with Andrew Cotter saving from Horgan and Jack Cunningham fluffing his lines from point-blank range.
A Coakley free cut the deficit to seven as Nemo’s scoreless streak extended to 20 minutes.
Then, David Buckley picked up his second yellow for a foul on Cronin to reduce Douglas to 14 men. Cronin tapped over, and they made it four in a row with Horgan, Cronin, and Kevin O’Donovan points.
Douglas finished with three consolation scores; two from Kingston and one by Coakley, who finished with 1-2.
M Cronin (0-6, 1tp, 1tpf, 1 free); C Horgan (1-2); R Dalton (0-3, 1tp); K O’Donovan (0-2); K Histon, B Hayes (0-1 each).
S Coakley (1-2, 0-1 free); S Kingston (0-5, 1 free).
MA Martin; M Hill, C Molloy, K Histon; C McCartan, S Cronin, K Fulignati; A O’Donovan, B Murphy; B Cripps, M Cronin, K O’Donovan; B Hayes, R Dalton, C Horgan.
C Kiely for Cripps (22 inj), L Horgan for Dalton (35, inj), C Moore for Fulignati (58, inj).
A Cotter; N Walsh, N Lynch, J O’Callaghan-Maher; S Aherne, J Burke, C Kingston; D Buckley, K Shanahan; P Lucey, L Dwan-Fogarty, A Cantwell; S Powter, C Russell, S Kingston.
S Coakley for C Kingston (30-f-t, temp), B Powter for Lucey (h-t), J Cunningham for Russell (40), D Ward for O’Callaghan-Maher (54), S O’Leary for Cantwell (60+4).
C Murphy (Glanworth).
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