Carrigaline boss Michael Meaney relishing huge challenge of facing Nemo in Division 1 FL decider

The McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 Football League Final is down for decision this evening as Nemo Rangers take on Carrigaline.

Shanbally is the venue for a 7.30pm throw-in time, an encounter that has all the ingredients to be a very tasty affair. Nemo are flying at the moment under Robbie O’Dwyer and are going for a seventh successive victory and also their second league crown in three seasons.

It might be somewhat of a surprise to see how well the Trabeg side have done this season considering the amount of players they have been missing during the regular league campaign due to a combination of reasons.

Carrigaline have done incredibly well considering they only gained promotion from Division 2 last year and also the fact that they got relegated from the Premier SFC in 2023. There has been no hangover and for manager Michael Meaney, this evening’s decider will be one to savour.

“Initially, when we first started out this season, our prerogative was to make sure we were in Division 1 for 2025,” he says.

“We achieved that and now we find ourselves in a final which we are really looking forward to. That goes down to two people, the players and more so our coach Kevin O’Sullivan. He has put in a lot of work since he joined us in February of last year. His work is bearing fruit now, you can see the chemistry in the team.

“There’s no hiding in the fact of the disappointment in getting relegated from the premier senior football championship last season. Three weeks after we went down, we met up and got our heads together and we set out our stall. We put a structure in place, knuckled down and the aim was to do well in the league. Thankfully everything has gone well so far.” 

Nemo Rangers are Nemo Rangers and in finals they are a tough nut to crack, but they did lose last season’s league final to St Finbarr’s, and Meaney is well aware of the huge challenge his side faces this evening, but Carrigaline did run the city side close in their league meeting back in May but Nemo eked out a victory by five points away from home.

“In terms of preparation with the championship around the corner, this game is ideal,” Meaney said.

“We know the history of Nemo. They have created their own identity. It’s Nemo Rangers in a final with a trophy at the end of it. We are going out to win, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a great buzz around the place and we feel we are ready to go to take on the might of Nemo.

“They have many players who have Division 1 medals but that doesn’t matter to them. When they are in a final, they are there to win and that’s the bottom line. We know we will have to be at our best to have any chance.” 

The match takes place in Shanbally, only around the corner from Carrigaline, a pitch they would be very familiar with so it’s basically a home game for them, but Meaney doesn’t think that will have any bearing on the contest.

“You can put Nemo in any venue and they will still come with the same winning mentality, style and so on,” he says.

“Is it a help to us? Possibly, but look, a pitch is a pitch and you just have to perform on the day, no matter where you are. We have played there many times but that won’t be of any huge significance I don’t think.” 

Carrigaline will have the vast majority of players available to them and this evening is set to be Brian O’Driscoll’s debut for his new team having transferred from Tadhg MacCarthaigh back in January, with the Cork senior footballer now living in Carrigaline.

“All the lads have had their holidays so they're ready to go now,” Meaney said, who guided Carrigaline to the PIFC title in 2015.

“In fairness to them, since I have been involved, they all take their holidays around the same time. It’s great to have Brian O’Driscoll available, it’s earlier than we expected to have him. He will bring our standards up. He will be a big addition.”