John Fintan Daly and Knocknagree enjoying the journey

Not so long ago, the idea of the first teams of Knocknagree and Nemo Rangers meeting each other in competitive fare would have seemed fanciful.

The Duhallow club’s rise to prominence has featured more than a few unbelievable notions becoming reality and on Sunday they secured a second win in four McCarthy Insurance Group FL Division 1 games as they held on for a 1-13 to 1-12 triumph at home to the city side.

The 10.45am start made for a busy day for manager John Fintan Daly – he was on C103 co-commentary duty for Cork’s Munster SFC game against Munster – but he was still able to appreciate the point they have reached, having been junior A as recently as 2017.

“It's been an amazing journey,” he said.

“We've had fierce momentum but we've had our disappointments along the way too and that gives you a sense of resolve – we had to play three senior A finals to win one.

“We’re down a few players at the moment but we have good guys who come in and we play to a system and they’re going to give everything.

“They're a happy group, it's a great culture around the group and they’ve earned the right to be where they are.”

Leading by 0-9 to 0-7 at half-time on Sunday, Knocknagree enjoyed a great start to the second half as Denis R O’Connor’s goal helped them to push six points clear. While Nemo came back well to within a point after Ronan Dalton’s goal, Anthony O’Connor was on hand to extend the Knocknagree lead.

Conor Horgan, who finished with six points, brought Nemo back to just the minimum and they might have even stolen the win with a late two-point free but they couldn’t find a leveller.

Daly was proud of how his side acquitted themselves in the face of such pressure from a team so well-versed in securing results.

“Nemo are a good team and you know that they’re going to have their moments,” he said.

“I’m sure they’re frustrated – they’ve lost three games and all by just a point. It was a well-contested game, very honest and fair.

“You could see our supporters got plenty of enjoyment out of it, there’s plenty invested enough in us to come for a match at quarter to 11 in the morning.

“We were fortunate in some ways, we had to ride our luck at times but, equally, you make your own luck.

“A key thing is that we’re not overawed by playing these teams – we’re not arrogant by any means but we are a footballing team and we have belief in ourselves.”

Knocknagree’s five points from four matches leave them in a tie for second place with Clonakilty and Cilln na Martra, one behind leaders St Finbarr’s.

Given the difficulty of their opening fixtures following last year’s promotion, it’s a state of affairs Daly will take, not least because they have the step up to premier senior to deal with come the championship.

“When we won the delayed Tom Creedon Cup final against Naomh Abán a week before we played the Barrs, I was interviewed afterwards and I said that we would be going after the league to build momentum.

“We’ve always done that but when you look at our first four fixtures – away to the Barrs, home to Castlehaven, away to Clonakilty and at home to Nemo – and really you could have made a case that we wouldn’t have any points after them.

“I sure as hell didn't expect this.”