Preview: Nemo can edge Castlehaven as big crowd permitted for county final

THE 2020 Cork Premier Senior Football Championship final finally takes place this Sunday at Páirc Úi Chaoimh with heavyweights Nemo Rangers and Castlehaven locking horns for the right to belatedly lift the Andy Scannell Cup.

The good news on Friday is that the limit of just 500 supporters for the long-delayed showdown between two of Cork's most famous clubs has been eased. There was huge criticism throughout the week when the cap was announced for the stadium with a capacity of 45,000, which meant each side had just 250 tickets each to distribute to supporters.

Now they're on sale via this link. 

Nemo are the reigning champions on the back of their 2019 triumph over Duhallow, while they are also looking to secure their fourth title in six seasons, and 22nd in total, a stat that fully illustrates just what a dominant force they have been in the county since they won their first title as recently as 1972.

In historical terms, Castlehaven are also new enough to the party, with the Larry Tompkins driven side of 1989 being the first side to secure senior county honours from the town, with four more added since. The back-to-back titles of 2012 and 2013 were the most recent of those, but they seem a long time ago now, as they certainly would be of the belief that they have underperformed since.

It’s crazy to think that the semi-finals took place way back on the October 4 2020, with both teams having almost 11 months to stew since.

To put that wait into some perspective Castlehaven’s young attacker Jack Cahalane has won two U20 hurling All-Irelands, two U20 Munster hurling championships and one U20 Munster football championship since their semi-final penalty shoot-out triumph over St Finbarr’s, as he has effectively enjoyed an entire career in the interim.

And that point alone tells us that any form from last year can effectively be thrown out the window. The younger of the three Cahalane siblings was only introduced in the 36th minute against the club he hurls for, and at the time that made sense, given that he was barely out of minor.

While he is still only 19 years of age he has garnered considerable experience in the past year, so it will be extremely interesting to see how the Haven utilise his talents. They may play him in the inside line alongside inter-county man Brian Hurley, although surely the temptation will be to back the kick-passing skills on the 40 that were seen to such devastating effect in the Munster U20 championship against both Kerry and Tipperary.

An injury doubt has, however, cast a shadow over Hurley's participation at all.

We can only speculate at this juncture, and the same can be said about how they will use his older brothers, Damien and Conor, who are fresh from senior hurling duty with Cork in last Sunday’s disappointing All-Ireland defeat to Limerick. In the semi-final, last October, Damien was positioned at full-back with Conor at centre-forward, but all bets are off now due to the huge break.

The influential Mark Collins is bound to have a huge say around the middle as well. He may have only played a bit part in Cork’s 2021 campaign, but he remains one of the classiest footballers in the county and Nemo will have to curtail his influence in feeding the Hurley’s and the two younger Cahalanes inside.

In saying that Nemo will be confident enough of their own firepower, provided they can break even around the middle of the park.

Luke Connolly, Mark Cronin, Paul Kerrigan, and Barry O’Driscoll are the marquee names in what is a slick attacking unit that also includes the likes of Ronan Dalton and Conor Horgan. 

From a Cork point of view, the county team is crying out for a left-sided free taker who can also contribute from play, so it will be interesting to see how Mark Cronin has developed since the 2019 U20 All-Ireland triumph that he was so instrumental in.

Connolly has scored 5-22 in his five championship games to date, including a blistering 3-3 in the quarter-final tie against Ballincollig, and 2-3 in the opening round match against Valley Rovers. When the maverick Nemo attacker is hot he can be on fire. The Haven will certainly hope to see the lukewarm version of Luke Connolly on Sunday.

With two quality attacks in action, this one could well come down to which defensive unit is the more watertight.

With Cork netminder Micheál Aodh Martin marshalling a defence that includes the likes of the ultra-experienced Kieran Histon and Stephen and Alan Cronin, as well as county men Kevin O’Donovan and Briain Murphy it would appear that the Capwell side might just have the edge in this sector.

That could well be enough for them to be able to retain the title, in what should be an extremely tight affair.