Christy O'Connor on how Barrs beat Nemo and Cork hurler Brian Hayes' vital role

After all the heartbreak, St Finbarr’s didn’t know if it ever was going to happen but whenever it inevitably did, the Barrs knew for sure that finally beating Nemo Rangers in a county final was never going to be straight-forward, and that it was always likely to come down to the finest of margins.

And that’s exactly how it all played out on Sunday evening with the Barrs finally edging past their great city rivals in a county final by the width of a post with the last kick of the match.

History has turned on its head in more ways than one because Nemo have never known days like this either. Nemo have lost almost as many county finals in the last three years as they previously had in their entire history, having suffered just four final defeats prior to 2023.

So while this is one of the sweetest imaginable for the Barrs, it’s the bitterest for Nemo in more ways than one. Two points up at the break with the breeze at their backs to come, Nemo’s conversion rate in the second half was a miserable 21%.

They hit the post with three of their 11 missed attempts in that second half (one of which was for a two-pointer) but discussing fine margins certainly won’t add any balm to a wound that will cut deeper in Nemo than ever before.

They’ll be even more sickened when the Barrs were still able to win the game despite only managing to get off two shots in the last quarter, and registering just one score, a point in additional time, in the last 19 minutes.

As a comparison, Nemo got off nine shots in that fourth quarter but only nailed three of them, one of which was a two-pointer.

The Barrs did most of their damage early in that third quarter with an unanswered 1-2 after half-time, but the rot set in for Nemo too in that period when they missed all five of their shots – one of which was a great goal chance in the 36th minute.

Nemo looked to have lost their footing in that period and, while they got it back and had a strong foothold when they really needed it, Nemo just couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard.

What will pain Nemo even more is how their conversion rate was an impressive 75% against the breeze. But it collapsed completely after the break with the elements behind them.

The Barrs were more accurate overall with a conversion rate of 55% (compared to Nemo’s 48%), but their shot selection at times – especially in the first half – was constantly putting them under pressure.

The Barrs turned over the ball 19 times but six of those turnovers stemmed from shots that dropped short. Nemo only dropped two short but that is irrelevant in the context of their overall profligacy.

The Barrs will wonder too how they only had one more shot (27-26) considering how dominant they were around the middle through Brian Hayes and Ian Maguire, along with Luke Hannigan, who was outstanding when introduced.

The Nemo kick-out was under pressure from early on, especially in the first half when the Barrs won eight of Micheál Aodh Martin’s restarts and translated that possession into 0-6. Nemo did have far more control on their own restart after the break, only losing three, but the Barrs goal stemmed from one of those kickouts, which was brilliantly won by Brian Hayes before Hayes brilliantly finished the move to the net.

That score really arrested the initiative back but it also ignited the Barrs after a poor first-half showing with the breeze. They had plenty of possession in that period but they were overcomplicating it from overplaying the ball and poor shot selection.

DIRECT

Nemo by contrast had played some great stuff in the first half. They kept to a much more simple formula by being direct and they were kicking the ball a lot more to good effect. 

For all the Barrs' aerial dominance around the middle, Nemo also mined 1-3 off the Barrs' kick-out in that first half.

Shortly after Kevin O’Donovan’s outstanding goal in the 21st minute, Nemo had a chance to go even further ahead but Mark Cronin blasted over the bar. At least that blow was softened when Brian Hayes kicked a two-pointer straight off the resultant Barrs kick-out.

The Barrs did look to counter-attack at pace off turnovers in that first half but the Nemo half-back line was outstanding in that period and they never let the Barrs penetrate their defence. They had also restricted the influence of Steven Sherlock, who only nailed one of four shots from play in that first half. Still, Sherlock’s massive two-point free just before half-time was a massive score in the context of where the Barrs had found themselves at that time.

Sherlock was more effective in open play in the second half but Hayes was their real driving force. 

From 27 possessions, Hayes scored 1-2, while he'd assists for another 0-2, and he had a hand in another score. Hayes also won seven kick-outs across the 60-plus minutes.

Moments after Hayes received his man-of-the-match award, Sherlock lifted the cup on the podium beside him. “Now it’s time to celebrate like we’ve never celebrated before,” said Sherlock at the end of his acceptance speech.

After all the final defeats to Nemo, the Barrs certainly will.