St Finbarr's have only beaten Nemo Rangers once in championship in 36 years 

For all that Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr’s have achieved in their illustrious histories, neither will lack for that ravenous hunger in Sunday’s county final.

Nemo need to avoid three consecutive final defeats. The Barrs long to win a first final against their city rivals. The Barrs have a particular itch to scratch in regard to Nemo. 

The Togher giants have only beaten their southside rivals once in championship in the past 36 years. 

That victory, back in 2012, was experienced by just a handful of their current-day starters: Alan O’Connor, Jamie Burns, and Ian Maguire, who came off the bench.

Since then, the Barrs suffered derby defeats in 2016, 2017, after a replay, 2019, and 2022. Taking county final meetings alone, they have lost all four (1993, 2010, the 2017 replay, and 2022).

At the same time, it’s hard to envisage Nemo losing a third final in a row. Prior to that pair of showpiece defeats, the Trabeg club had won 23 of their 27 final appearances. 

UNWANTED

Their nearest two final defeats were seven years apart, between 1992 and '99. No team has lost three finals on the spin since the Barrs compiled that unwanted record between 1989 and '91. 

Those games were all decided by one or two points. None featured a goal.

Nemo’s losses over the last two years have also come in goalless contests. In 2023, they fell two points shy of Castlehaven.  Last year, the gap had grown to five. They will see this as a golden opportunity for redemption. 

And you’d have to think goals should be on the menu, too.

Since the '22 final, both Nemo and Barrs have featured an infusion of new blood.

From their influx of underage talent, the Barrs are expected to pick six players to start their first senior final in either code: Darragh Newman, Ciarán Doolan, William Buckley, Conor Dennehy, John Wigginton-Barrett, and Ricky Barrett.

Nemo have more county-final experience in their team. Their semi-final subs bench was headlined by decorated stars such as Paul Kerrigan and Ronan Dalton. 

Only corner-back Mark Hill hasn’t featured in one, while Colm Kiely would be in line to start his first. Uniquely, it’s not just some of the players that are new. It’s the rules, too.

SHACKLE

Steven Sherlock has profited from a handful of two-pointers among his 6-36 haul this season. The captain’s tally accounts for just over half of the Barrs’ total score this year (12-70). 

Will Kieran Histon or Colin Molloy be backed to shackle Sherlock?

Nemo’s county defenders, Bríain Murphy and Kevin O’Donovan, have been seconded further out the field this year. 

That’s a lot of full-back line resources placed elsewhere against an attack which has struck 10 goals in their past three games.

Will one of them be drafted back inside? Murphy on Brian Hayes, for example, if the big man starts at 14?

At the other end, Mark Cronin is an obvious threat, while Conor Horgan was Nemo’s gamebreaker in the 2022 final and has been in similarly sharp form this autumn. 

We’ll come back to the Barrs’ defensive set before we finish.

With the new rules placing a premium on primary possession, the scrap between Ian Maguire and Alan O’Donovan for aerial dominance and the breaking-ball contest in their vicinity will dictate who gets more supply into their attacking threats.

You could put a generous spin on Nemo’s Newcestown scare by noting the four-week break before that semi-final, which perhaps played into the uneven performance levels, and believe them unlikely to be afflicted by such issues again. 

Reinforced by their first real test since round one, they enter more battle-hardened than before.

In 2022, they were even less impressive in labouring past Carbery Rangers in a county quarter-final, yet arrived primed for the Barrs on the big day.

In so many of those head-to-head match-ups over the years, Nemo have won the majority. 

That has fuelled their unbeaten streak. So for the Barrs to win, they need to demonstrate ground gained on the 23-time champions.

To do that, we could note that the Barrs caused Castlehaven marginally more damage in their recent semi-final defeats than Nemo mustered in the subsequent finals.

SPARKED TO LIFE

Since then, the returns to fitness of Sam Ryan, Billy Hennessy, and Dylan Quinn have strengthened their defence no end. Each offers a man-marking option.

The Barrs were slower starters to this campaign, but sparked to life when spanking Carrigaline by 19 points before dethroning the Haven with a six-goal blast. Those are the most compelling form lines.

The more their county hurlers have played under the new rules, the better they’ve gotten. 

That upward curve, and a rare weekend off in the build-up, might be just enough to reclaim the Andy Scannell Cup.