Premier SFC: Nemo Rangers can't pull away from Éire Óg but do enough for victory
Kevin O'Donovan of Nemo Rangers holds possession despite the attentions of Éire Óg's Rian O'Flynn. Picture: Picture: Jim Coughlan
A strong first-half performance went a long towards securing a second straight victory for Nemo Rangers in Group 1 of the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC at Ballincollig on Friday night.
A half-time lead of 0-12 to 1-2 put the city side firmly in control and, though their second-half display lacked the fluency of the opening period, a victory for Éire Óg never looked likely.
Two wins from two doesn’t yet ensure qualification for Nemo and neither does two defeats mean that Éire Óg’s hopes are fully extinguished – Saturday evening’s clash between Ballincollig and Newcestown will go a long way towards providing clarity on the situation.
The concession of two goals without scoring one will be something for Nemo to work on before they face Newcestown but on the positive side they once again managed to avoid using any substitutes and gave signs that they will still have a say come the business of the competition.
That was illustrated with an opening 16 minutes that yielded six points with no wides and nothing allowed at the other end. However, Éire Óg – without Mark Giffin or Daniel Goulding from the start, the latter limited to a late cameo – got off the mark.
Colm O’Callaghan, who was largely curtailed by Barry Cripps, was the creator as his quick free was won inside by Eoin O’Shea, who kept his composure with a nice sidestep and finish.
It was, however, brief respite as Nemo wiped out the goal in the space of three minutes. Finding space well, they had points from impressive duo Ross Corkery and Conor Horgan to put them seven ahead again and that was the margin at half-time.
On the resumption, Nemo moved eight in front with a lovely counter-attacking move built on kick-passes, Ronan Dalton and Mark Cronin linking for Corkery to get his fourth, but the lead was never greater than that.
Éire Óg needed goals and midfielder Jack Murphy was unlucky to see a shot come back off the post while Rian O’Flynn’s run led to a shot that was saved by Micheál Aodh Martin, the goalkeeper also keeping out Dylan Foley’s follow-up. Amid those opportunities, the temperature was rising as a series of niggly incidents kept referee Liam O’Shea on his toes, but the game would end with 30 players.
On 43 minutes, Paudie Kissane’s side did give themselves hope with as a green flag materialised. Dermot Herlihy found Daniel Healy in midfield and his pass in turn allowed sub Jack Sheehan to set up centre-back Conor McGoldrick. That left it 0-14 to 2-3 and the lead was down to four points when goalkeeper Chris Kelly came forward to slot over a free.
It was as close as they came, though. Nemo moved into endgame mode as Eoin Nation and Alan O’Donovan combined for Horgan’s fourth and a similar move ended with Kevin O’Donovan opening up a six-point lead again.
Éire Óg did have the last two points, through Donnacha Kelly and Jack Murphy – those scores may yet prove important, but they will need Ballincollig to beat Newcestown to retain a chance of progress.
C Horgan, R Corkery 0-4 each, P Kerrigan 0-3 (0-1 f), M Cronin 0-2, O Whyte, R Dalton, K O'Donovan 0-1 each.
E O'Shea 1-1, C McGoldrick 1-0, D Healy (f), D Kelly, C Kelly (f), J Murphy, J Sheehan 0-1 each.
MA Martin; E Nation, C Molloy, C McCartan; K O'Donovan, K Fulignati, S Cronin; A O'Donovan, B Cripps; C Horgan, R Dalton, O Whyte; R Corkery, M Cronin, P Kerrigan.
C Kelly; M Corkery, C Clifford, D Herlihy; A McCarthy, D Dineen, C McGoldrick; C O'Callaghan, D Kelly; R O'Flynn, E O'Shea, D McCarthy; D Foley, D Healy, J Murphy.
J Sheehan for Dineen (half-time), D Goulding for O'Flynn (52), H Murphy for Healy (56).
L O'Shea (Carbery Rangers).
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