Nemo's record-breaker: Paul Kerrigan joins his father Jimmy and Dinny Allen in the history books

HE may not have had his best game in a Nemo shirt, by his own admittance, but you can only admire their centre-forward Paul Kerrigan.

He has been an inspirational player for the club for many years and even though he missed a few chances against Clonmel in the Munster final, such is his confidence that he kept going and in the 53rd minute created his own bit of history.

That point was his 231st for his club and add in his 23 goals it tallies as 300 points as a senior player for them.

It was also his 100th senior championship game for the club, joining his father Jimmy and Dinny Allen as the only other players to achieve this milestone. Of those 100 games he has started a remarkable 92 and you can bet there will be a few more starts for him going forward.

The tally of achievements goes on and on, with the win over Clonmel Commercials seeing him pick up his fifth Munster medal. “I’m delighted to come out of here with the win today, it was fairly heavy going but we are into December. 

"We were up against a good team and could possibly have had a few more points on the board as some of our finishing, especially myself, wasn’t the best at times. It was our last game of 2019 and we wanted to leave it out there and thankfully we won well.

“Defensively I thought we were outstanding today and if you look back to the county quarter-final against the Barrs we have only conceded about seven or eight points a game and that was the case again today. We didn’t repay them fully for that effort in the forward line today, but we managed to get the job done. 

"We concentrated on defending from their kick-outs and that helped us to come through as they are a good side and we knew they weren’t going to make it easy for us.”

On his own personal achievements, he said: “It took me long enough to get the point and it looked like a bit of a bogey score so I am happy enough to have it off my back to be honest. I missed about four or five before I eventually managed to score it.

“I love being available to play for the club, touch wood I have been injury free nearly all my career, bar a couple of weeks here and there, so it’s always great to put on the club jersey.

“I think my dad has 101 so hopefully I will equal that the next day and go beyond it. Any time you get to play championship with Nemo is a real honour and we have a really tight and good group of players. We have a lot of young lads coming through which is what you want and it keeps the club in a healthy place."

Corofin, a modern club football powerhouse, await in the semi-final. 

"We will celebrate this one for a day or two but we will be back training fairly fast as the All-Ireland semi-final in early January and we want to be ready for that.”