Donoughmore blow Nemo away to storm into Cork JAFC final

Donoughmore will face Kilmacabea in the decider

Donoughmore's Scott Barrett, who notched 2-1, fires his first goal past Frederic Dietze of Nemo Rangers in the Cork Junior A Football Championship semi-final match at Glenville, Co Cork. Pic: Dan Linehan

Cork JAFC semi-final: Donoughmore 3-19 (3-3-13) Nemo Rangers 0-7 (0-0-7) 

By the time Nemo Rangers registered their first shot, Donoughmore already had 1-3 on the board in Glenville and a grip that would never loosen.

It was dominance in its purest form as the Muskerry men powered into the Cork Junior A Football Championship final, where they’ll face Kilmacabea.

Donoughmore’s grip came from all angles – their tackling fierce, their kickout press suffocating, their shooting immaculate.

David McDonnell curled a glorious early two-pointer before turning provider for Scott Barrett’s first goal, 1-3 to no score. Nemo had an early flicker, Jack O’Brien denied a goal by Kevin O’Riordan in the fifth minute, the first of two big stops on Saturday from O’Riordan.

For Nemo’s third team, it quickly became an uphill climb that only got steeper. While a Lyons free cut the deficit to seven after 19 minutes, they were buried by the break.

Donoughmore hit 1-6 unanswered over the next nine minutes, McDonnell with another excellent point, Daniel Holland with a white and orange flag, before Gavin O’Sullivan sent Barrett through for his second goal.

They added two more white flags before Nemo finally landed their third point, another free, leaving it 2-12 to 0-3 at the break. But the pattern scarcely shifted in the latter act.

Lyons and Bill Twohig managed points, and the former was denied a goal by O’Riordan’s brilliant reflexes, but in one moment Nemo’s marginal progress was undone. McDonnell and Declan Keating worked it to Holland, and he fired cleanly to the bottom corner, 3-12 to 0-5.

By the 47th minute, the gap had swelled to 18. Nemo managed two more points – one a smart volleyed effort from Lyons, the other from corner-back Shane O’Dwyer – but they would not score again.

Donoughmore saw it out with ease. Keating knocked over two frees – their first placed balls of the game in the 54th and 56th minutes – O’Sullivan converted a two-point free, and Donnacha Morrissey thundered forward to cap a fine personal display with a point of his own.

He wasn’t the only standout in black and white, corner backs Rory Honohan and Sean Broderick forced countless turnovers, and Sean O’Hanlon controlled the middle.

No need for late comebacks here, and the Donoughmore dream continues.

Scorers for Donoughmore: S Barrett 2-1, D Holland 1-4 (1 tp), D McDonnell 0-5 (1 tp), D Keating 0-3 (0-2 f), G O’Sullivan 0-2 (tpf), K O’Connell, A Dinan, R Honohan, D Morrissey 0-1 each.

Scorers for Nemo Rangers: J Lyons 0-4 (0-3 f), B Twohig, G Barrett, S O’Dwyer 0-1 each.

DONOUGHMORE: K O’Riordan; R Honohan, D Forde, S Broderick; D Morrissey, J Crowley, K O’Connell; S O’Hanlon, M Lucey; A Dinan, G O’Sullivan, D Holland; D Keating, D McDonnell, S Barrett.

Subs: L O’Sullivan for Lucey (HT), J Twomey for S Barrett (41), C O’Callaghan for Holland (45), S Golden for Broderick (51), K McCarthy for O’Hanlon (55), D O’Connell for Dinan (60+1 inj).

NEMO RANGERS: F Dietze; S O’Dwyer, I Nolan, D Egan; C Kavanagh, J O’Brien, E Diloughrey; D Callanan, M Keenan; B Twohig, G Barrett, P O’Dwyer; S Nagle, A Brown, J Lyons.

Subs: A O’Reilly for Kavanagh (HT), J Philpott for Brown, B O’Connor for P O’Dwyer (both 45), J Buckley for Barrett, D Kelly for E Diloughrey (both 51).

Referee: J Bermingham (Bride Rovers)