John Horgan on hurling: Nemo and Harbour Rovers served up high drama on county final day

YOU would expect that the best games of hurling containing the most excitement to be played over the summer months when the pitches are in pristine condition.

That's not saying that you won't get games of high quality too in the depths of Winter and we got a damn good one last Sunday in Páirc Uí Rinn between Nemo Rangers and Harbour Rovers in the final of the Cork County Junior A championship. The junior A championship is now the sixth tier of Cork hurling but that should not diminish its importance in any way.

For any club that wins this competition, it is still regarded as a very significant achievement and is celebrated in that club just as much as any other title elsewhere.

Nemo Rangers have been in that particular winner's enclosure in the past, winning the title 20 years ago in 2000. Harbour Rovers from Glanworth/Ballindangan were seeking their first title last Sunday having come up short three years ago in losing to Lisgoold.

It has not been a great year for city clubs in the higher grades of hurling so it was very much a case of Nemo being left to carry the flag.

Of course, a lot of the Nemo team that lined up last Sunday would have had the experience of winning on county final days with the club's senior footballers and that knowledge of being successful on those days can be a considerable asset.

And that was very much in evidence in their semi-final victory over Ballinora when a last-gasp goal secured their place in the final.

Knowing how to win, being able to find a way when it might have looked like your chance had gone is something that can make all the difference.

As we have stated in the past, Limerick hurlers are masters when it comes to getting over the line, of being able to dig it out when their opponents get a run on them.

From the off in Páirc Uí Rinn in this Junior A county final one had a sense that this was going to be a game that was going to go all the way down to the wire.

Harbour Rovers enjoyed the better of the opening minutes, their star player Stephen Condon firing over some quality points. And when Darragh O'Brien fired home a fine individual goal their tails were up.

TIGHT

But at no time did Nemo let them get too far in front and the game remained very much in the balance throughout. The quality of the fare on offer was of a fine standard and the endeavour levels never dropped.

Nemo lost a player to a red card in the second half but they remained in very much contention as we entered the game's closing minutes. With five minutes of added time being called out, the North Cork champions had their noses in front by a brace of points.

And then it happened again, just as it was against Ballinora, Nemo engineered a goal from Alan O'Donovan and when any team from Trabeg get ahead so late in the game they are not going to give it up.

The Rovers had one or two chances to secure a goal at the other end but the Nemo defensive unit held its nerve and the title was theirs after what one has to state was a thoroughly enjoyable game of hurling, better than quite a few of the games that we have witnessed this season in the higher grades.

But that's what you get at this level, whole-hearted application by both teams and in a lot of these finals there is a graphic illustration of ecstasy and agony at the final whistle.

This one was a perfect example of that. Over the years this observer has witnessed Nemo Rangers celebrate with great gusto numerous football titles at all levels but they love their hurling too in this great club and that was very evident when the trophy was handed over.

In Nemo every title, status never matters, is welcomed and celebrated and a hurling title is no different.

They had plenty of handsome contributors to this victory, none more so than that great dual servant, James Masters between the sticks. Another veteran, Peter Morgan played his part too and the accuracy of Shane Horgan was vitally important all through.

Their defence held firm when some big questions were posed and to repeat, they had that knowledge of finding a way. Two late goals that proved so decisive in the semi-final and final illustrated that they don't panic in Nemo.

It was heartbreaking for Harbour Rovers, they gave so much to this final and seemed to have the title in their grasp after the 60 minutes had elapsed.

But how many games are won and lost in the time that is added on and the greatest illustration of that was in the premier county senior semi-final between Sarsfields and Imokilly, the East Cork divisional side four points to the good in actual injury time before Sars manufactured a goal and an equalising point to take the game into extra-time and we all know the outcome thereafter.

Nemo might not have got their hands on the prize that they cherish most in Trabeg, the Andy Scannell trophy but they will take every bit as much pride in this hurling achievement.

They'll be competing at Premier junior level next season, a step up without a doubt but that's for another day.

Any team coming out of Trabeg is rarely found wanting and the hurlers gave city hurling a nice little boost last Sunday.

Losing two finals in such a short space of time will be hard to take for Harbour Rovers but when the disappointment begins to ease they will realise how close they are to taking their first title.

Their cause will endure and from what we saw last Sunday, they'll be there or thereabouts again next season.

Next Sunday the curtain falls on the hurling championship year on Leeside with the collision of Killeagh and Fermoy in the Cork county Junior B final.

If it's half as good as the A final then we'll enjoy it every bit as much. Hurling in winter, games like last Sunday prove how enjoyable it can be.