Nemo break Harbour Rovers hearts in JAHC final with late goal to win the title

Nemo Rangers 1-14 

Harbour Rovers 1-12 

NEMO RANGERS are the 2023 Co-Op Superstores Cork Junior A Hurling Champions after a thrilling final win over Harbour Rovers in Pairc Ui Rinn on Sunday afternoon.

It is a first Cork JAHC title since 2000 for the city side, who once again showed their never say die spirit with a dramatic late winning goal by Alan O'Donovan and after being reduced to fourteen men in the second half.

As the action commenced in the opening half, a pair of Stephen Condon frees for Harbour Rovers opened the scoring in this contest. Nemo are a club synonymous with county finals in Gaelic Football. 

On this particular occasion a hurling decider, they got up and running through early points by Mark Cronin and a fine long range point by Shane Horgan.

Condon maintained his composure to slot the Avondhu men two points ahead, before Nemo levelled to leave it 0-4 apiece after 10 minutes through composed scores by Horgan.

During what was a rip roaring start to proceedings, Harbour Rovers, who were defeated in the 2020 Cork JAHC decider, edged back ahead thanks to a fine point by John O’Sullivan, before a Kevin O’Donovan point for Nemo levelled things up once again.

Much of what is good about Harbour Rovers generally goes through Condon. He edged his side back in front with a well taken point on 18 minutes. 

They nearly got a goal shortly after that, but Darragh O’Brien was denied by a fine save by Nemo goalkeeper James Masters.

O’Brien did get a goal for the Avondhu champions on 25 minutes, going on a menacing run and then finishing neatly to the back of the net from close range.

The city side had a goal chance of their own before the half time break when Kevin O’Donovan forced a fine save out of Harbour Rovers goalkeeper David O’Sullivan.

Nemo got late first half points through Colm Kiely and Shane Horgan to leave three points between the teams at the break, with Harbour Rovers holding the advantage at 1-7 to the 0-7 of Nemo Rangers.

Given his scoring form, it was no surprise that Stephen Condon got the scoring up and running after the break for Harbour Rovers.

Nemo built their way back into the contest and reduced the gap down to just one point, with Shane Horgan slotting over further pointed efforts. 

But they then were reduced to 14 men, with Peter Collins shown a red card by match referee Brian Sweeney following an off the ball incident.

Condon slotted over from the resulting free, as Harbour Rovers led by three points after 43 minutes with Tom McGrath also splitting the posts with precision.

The sides then exchanged further points, through Condon for Harbour Rovers and Shane Horgan for Nemo, to see the score at 1-11 to 0-11 with eight minutes remaining on the clock.

With the contest heading into second half stoppage time, yet another Shane Horgan point saw just two points between the teams, with the excitement on the field of play and in the stands going into overdrive.

There was only a single point between the teams on 61 minutes, with Horgan slotting over to set up a grandstand finish.

In typical Nemo fashion they never refuse to throw the towel in. When the ball broke into his path, Alan O’Donovan grabbed the opportunity and planted the ball home on the turn. Never write Nemo Rangers off!!

Scorers for- Nemo Rangers: S Horgan 0-10 (0-8 f), A O’Donovan 1-0, C Kiely 0-2, M Cronin, K O’Donovan 0-1 each.

Harbour Rovers: S Condon 0-9 (0-5 f, 0-1 ‘65’), D O’Brien 1-1 , T McGrath, J O’Sullivan 0-1 each.

Nemo Rangers: J Masters; S Cronin, P Morgan, B Murphy; B O’Neill, K O’Donovan, J Coogan; P Collins, A O’Donovan ; M Cronin, B Cripps, S Horgan; C Kiely, R Dalton, J Kearney.

Subs: C Horgan for Kearney (HT), J Horgan for Kiely (41), E Dilloughery for Dalton (48).

Harbour Rovers: D O’Sullivan; B O’Keeffe, E O’Donoghue, J Fogarty; J Walsh, S Finn, J Coughlan; J Fitzgibbon, T Condon; J O’Sullivan, P Condon, D Pyne; D O’Brien, S Condon, E Sheehan.

Subs: T McGrath for Sheehan (40), P Hannon for Fitzgibbon (47), P Blackburn for Walsh M Wade for O’Sullivan (both 57).

Referee: Brian Sweeney (Erin’s Own).