Nemo ease past St Michael's to book Premier SFC semi-final spot

Nemo Rangers are the top seeds in the championship and will have a watching brief in a fortnight as they wait to see who will join them in the final four.

Sun, 14 Sep, 2025 - 18:48

John Coleman

McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier SFC: Nemo Rangers 4-18 (4-5-8) St Michael’s 0-13 (0-4-5)

This Group 3 clash in the McCarthy Insurance Group Cork PSFC was a game of two halves with a difference. Nemo Rangers aren’t the most successful club in Cork football for nothing. They don’t tend to get caught out so the difference either side of Pat O’Leary’s half time whistle in Shanbally on Sunday was in how Nemo hurt their neighbours from St Michael’s.

They had the wind behind them in the opening half, and this allowed them to hurt them from distance. Of their 14 first half points, 0-10 came from outside of the arc. Bryan Hayes kicked three sumptuous efforts from distance, while Michael’s tormentor in chief, Mark Cronin, raised one orange flag from play and another from a free. They led by 0-14 to 0-3 at the break. And they were never going to be caught from there.

In the second half they hurt St Michael’s closer to goal, hitting four goals from the 39th to 53rd minute. Cronin planted a penalty while Barry Cripps, Conor Horgan and Colm Kiley finished off brilliant team moves for the other majors.

What that all meant was that, once again, Nemo Rangers are the top seeds in the championship and will have a watching brief in a fortnight as they wait to see who will join them in the final four. As for St Michael’s losses elsewhere for Carbery Rangers and Valley Rovers meant that the precious point that they picked up against Ballincollig in Round 2 will keep them safe for another year. After a season that has seen them struggle admirably against injuries and what must have felt like fate, at times, that will do for them, for now.

What will please Robbie O’Dwyer and his fellow selectors is how Nemo has improved from game to game. They rode the storm against Ballincollig, upped the ante against Douglas, and were operating at another level again here. They went into the game seven points behind Castlehaven in terms of scoring difference in the race for the top seed, but according to Cronin, chasing that lead down didn’t enter the equation before the game.

“To be honest, probably not. It wasn’t in our heads about the semi-final. In our heads it’s just about that every time we go out, that we set a standard for ourselves. In the other two games we probably played for 30 minutes so our big focus for this game was putting two halves together. I think we ticked that box. Things to work on, but definitely an improvement from the last few days.”

Those standards were set early. The sides were level twice in the first six minutes with Rory O’Shaughnessy and Luke O’Herlihy on target for Michaels and Kevin O’Donovan and Conor Horgan pointing for Nemo. From there, it was the Hayes and Cronin show with O’Herlihy adding Michael’s other point.

If they were to have any chance, St Michael’s needed to make the wind count, early, but it was Nemo who kicked the first four points of the half, including one from the excellent Kieran Histon before Cronin buried his penalty. St Michael’s did rally with O’Herlihy sending over two frees from outside the arc and Eric Hegarty arrowing one over from play. But then came Nemo’s goals, and that was that.

The Saints won’t go marching on, and Nemo are on a well-worn road. Time will tell what lies at the end of it.

Scorers for Nemo Rangers: M Cronin (1-7, 1-0 pen, 1 2pt, 1 2ptf, 0-2 frees), B Hayes (0-6, 3 2pt), C Horgan (1-2, 0-1 free), B Cripps and C Kiely (1-0 each), K Histon, A O’Donovan, K O’Donovan (0-1 each).

Scorers for St Michael’s: L O’Herlihy (0-8, 1 2pt, 2 2ptf, 0-2 frees), E Hegarty (0-2, 2pt), R O’Shaughnessy, E Buckley and R Kavanagh (0-1 each).

NEMO RANGERS: MA Martin; M Hill, C Molloy, C McCartan; S Cronin, K Histon, K Fulignati; A O’Donovan, B Murphy; M Cronin, B Cripps, K O’Donovan; B Hayes, C Horgan, C Kiely.

Subs: C Moore for S Cronin (48), L Horgan for Kiely (53), E nation for McCartan (58).

ST MICHAEL’S: M Burke; L Carroll, A O’Callaghan, S Keating; R Kavanagh, A Murphy, F Leahy; E Hickey, R Shaughnessy; L O’Sullivan, L O’Herlihy, A Hennessy; K Hegarty, J Ryan, E Buckley.

Subs: B Cain for Hennessy (16), A Hennessy for Cain (h/t), E Hegarty for K Hegarty (41), D Corkery for Carroll (41), B Cain for O’Shaughnessy (49).

Referee: Pat O’Leary (Kilmurry).