At the sixth attempt, Barrs finally get the better of Nemo in final that went to the wire

St Finbarr's have won their first Cork Premier SFC title since 2021 and an 11th overall. For Nemo, they will rue their late missed chances. 

St. Finbarr's' Steven Sherlock and Ethan Twomey celebrate after the final whistle of the Cork Premier SFC final. Pic: ©INPHO/Laszlo Geczo

Cork Premier SFC final: St Finbarr’s 1-14 (1-2-10) Nemo Rangers 1-13 (1-2-9)

A shift in southside superiority. The Barrs - at the sixth attempt - have finally bested their Nemo neighbours on the concluding Sunday in Cork.

A captivating second half was far more about misses than magic. Goal-line saves at either end. The Barrs' post rattled with the last and attempted leveling kick. A second half of just eight scores.

The winners managed two points from the 33rd minute on, one from the 46th minute on. The winners won’t care for any of that. They have suffered long enough at the hands of the black and green to give a damn at how they finally succeeded in outlasting them in a county final. A new narrative after the decider defeats of 1993, 2010, 2017, after a replay, and 2022.

In all honesty, the wise consensus, at half-time, was that 2025 would be added to the above list. Nemo, having operated into a noteworthy breeze, enjoyed a 1-9 to 0-10 lead.

The Barrs brought in Luke Hannigan and Enda Dennehy for the second half. Hannigan won three restarts, two of those belonging to opposing ‘keeper Micheál Aodh Martin. It was another replacement, Cillian Myers Murray, who would land the 62nd-minute winner.

There was a lot of ground covered in between.

The Barrs were brilliant upon the restart. That brilliance was led by their outstanding performers Brian Hayes and William Buckley. The latter carried with such intent throughout. The former was fouled for a converted Steven Sherlock free.

Hayes fetched the subsequent restart. Sherlock and Rickey Barrett worked possession across the large parallelogram for Hayes to palm to the net. Started and finished in style.

Ethan Twomey followed with his second white flag. From two down to three ahead in the space of three minutes. The blue wave was belatedly rolling.

That gap went to four when an Ian Maguire-won kickout was moved to Buckley and finished by Sherlock. They’d not score again until Myers Murray scored the clincher.

Nemo, who had an Alan O’Donovan 37th minute goal drive blocked by Sam Ryan, didn’t open their second half account until a Mark Cronin 46th minute free. Another Cronin free on 54 minutes left the scoreline reading 1-13 to 1-11.

Brian Hayes, St Finbarr's getting his goal as the ball goes past Nemo Rangers keeper Micheál Aodh Martin in the McCarthy Insurance Group SFC final at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Picture Dan Linehan

Conor Horgan provided the equaliser at the end of regulation time in Nemo’s semi-final win over Newcestown. His two-pointer 33 seconds in injury-time again brought parity. It represented Nemo’s one and only second half score from play.

The sequence of the winner started in familiar fashion. Another Brian Hayes restart intervention. The subs came centre stage. Enda Dennehy to Eoin McGreevy to Myers Murray.

Horgan endeavoured again to equalise. His kick in the fourth and final minute came back off the post. The glory and the grief.

Although the gap was only two at the break, Nemo would have felt the first-half foundation laid was incredibly solid. Into a stiff breeze, they had constructed a 1-9 to 0-10 advantage.

In contrast to their eight second half wides, Robbie O’Dwyer’s side were the picture of economy early doors. Bryan Hayes dropped two short and Kevin O’Donovan kicked their one and only first-half wide on 17 minutes. Compare such efficiency to the Barrs’ seven first half wides, a Steven Sherlock attempt short, and a John Wigginton Barrett kick blocked down.

Knowing Nemo, they would still have felt their half-time 1-9 could have been greater. On 23 minutes, after the aforementioned Sherlock point attempt fell short, Barry Cripps and Bryan Hayes played through Mark Cronin. Right man, the finish carried too much oomph and flew over.

Cronin had the assist for Kevin O’Donovan’s rocket green flag two minutes earlier. He also had two white flags to go with the third he wanted as green.

In the restart following the latter opportunity, Darragh Newman went short to Ciaran Doolan. Nemo hit hard and turned the ball over. Bryan Hayes rose an orange flag. A three-point Nemo lead. 1-8 to 0-8.

Their litany of late misses will haunt and hurt them. A first three-in-a-row of county final defeats. A first ever final defeat to the blue neighbours.

A first title since 2021 and an 11th overall, the Barrs are back atop the local summit. A psychological peak conquered where so often before they’d failed.

Scorers for St Finbarr’s: B Hayes (1-2, tp); S Sherlock (0-5, tp free, 0-1 free); W Buckley, E Twomey (0-2 each); C Dennehy, R Barrett, C Myers Murray (0-1 each).

Scorers for Nemo Rangers: M Cronin (0-5, 0-2 frees); K O’Donovan (1-1); B Hayes (0-3, tp); C Horgan (0-2, tp); M Hill, S Cronin (0-1 each).

ST FINBARR’S: D Newman; S Ryan, A O’Connor, D Quinn; B Hennessy, J Burns, C Dennehy; I Maguire, B Hayes; E Twomey, C Doolan, W Buckley; J Wigginton Barrett, S Sherlock, R Barrett.

Subs: E Dennehy for Burns, L Hannigan for Wigginton Barrett (both HT); E McGreevy for Hayes (44-45 temporary); E McGreevy for Twomey, C Myers Murray for Barrett (both 59).

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

Subs: R Dalton for Kiely, P Kerrigan for Fulignati (both 42 min); C Moore for McCartan (51); L Horgan for B Hayes (59); R Corkery for A O’Donovan (64).

Referee: C Lane.