PIFC: Nemo up and running with hard-fought win over Aghada in Cobh
Aghada's Cian Hegarty in full flight as he breaks away from Nemo Rangers' Callum O'Neill during the PIFC match in Cobh. Picture: Howard Crowdy
Nemo Rangers secured a vital victory in the opening round of the Cork Premier Intermediate Football Championship, defeating Aghada 2-13 to 2-9 on Saturday in Cobh.
Goals from Conor Shalloe and Jack Coogan proved to be the difference, with Coogan's strong presence up front finishing with 1-6. Cobh was the venue for the group 1 tie which also consists of Bantry Blues and Aghabullogue.
From the opening whistle, Nemo Rangers asserted their dominance, with Coogan, Shane Burke and Conor O'Donovan leading the charge.
Inside the opening 14 minutes, Nemo had a 1-6 to 0-0 lead, with Coogan scoring four points and Burke and O'Donovan adding a point.
The opening goal on three minutes was a fine finish by Shalloe, following excellent link-up play with Burke and Coogan.
Burke won possession, passed to Shalloe, who then passed to Coogan, and the lateral laid it off to Shalloe, who dispatched it past Cian O'Shea.
Aghada finally got off the mark in the 15th minute with back-to-back points from Seamus Maloney and former Cork footballer Pearse O'Neill.
Coogan responded with a pointed free, and Nemo continued to dominate. 1-7 to 0-2 after eighteen minutes.
A crucial score for Aghada came when Cian Hegarty ran straight at the Nemo defense, passing to Diarmuid Byrne, who buried the ball into the back of the net.
Nemo kept their composure, manufacturing a well-worked move to Donovan, who fired over for another white flag.
Aghada scored 1-1 without reply in the remainder of the half, with Jamie O'Hanlon scoring a well-taken penalty after Hegarty drew the foul. Hegarty finished off the half with his first of the day, reducing the deficit to 2-3 to 1-8.
Aghada started the second half brightly, with Hegarty scoring a close-in free, reducing the margin to just one point.
Nemo responded in style, hitting an unanswered 1-3 without reply, with Coogan scoring a penalty goal.
Both sides then went point for point, with Aghada outscoring Nemo 0-4 to 0-1 in the last ten minutes.
Despite Byrne's two-pointer towards the end, Nemo's opening quarter had done the damage.
The victory marks a strong start for Nemo Rangers in the PIFC, and they will look to build on this momentum in their next outing against last year's runners-up and favourites Aghabullogue.
J Coogan 1-6 (0-3 f), C Shalloe 1-0, C O'Donovan 0-4, S Burke 0-2, C Kiely 0-1.
D Byrne 1-2 (1 tp), J O'Hanlon 1-0, C Hegarty 0-3 (0-2f), P O'Neill, F Cody, R Murphy, S Maloney 0-1 each.
C Martin; D Quinn, C Moore, T O'Brien; N O'Se, C Shalloe, C O'Neill; B O'Neill, E Kelly; S Burke, C Kiely, O Whyte; A Cronin, C O'Donovan, J Coogan.
L Healy for E Kelly.
C O'Shea; R Murphy, J Colbert, K O'Shea; S Whyte, J Tynan, T Hartnett; D Phelan, D Wallace; C Hegarty, S Maloney, D Byrne; S Morrissey, J O'Hanlon, P O'Neill.
T Condon for S Whyte, F Cody for S Morrissey, J Norris for J Colbert, J McKenna for C Hegarty, J O'Donoghue for D Wallace.
Aidan Hyland (Kilworth).
App?
