Castlehaven stun Nemo Rangers with an avalanche of two-pointers to rally from 10 down
Oisin Whyte, Nemo Rangers, closes in on Conor Cahalane, Castlehaven, at Trabeg. Picture: Jim Coughlan.
Castlehaven escaped to victory with a Houdini act in a McCarthy Insurance Division 1 Football League cracker at Trabeg on Sunday.
Trailing by 10 points with 12 minutes remaining, they managed to ambush Nemo coming down the stretch with substitute Jamie Walsh scoring a crucial goal with a minute remaining.
In their previous game against Newcestown, they battling back with an injury-time goal from Jack O’Neill forcing a draw.
The Haven came in having won two games and drawn four, while Nemo's record of two wins and four losses wasn’t the type of record usually associated with this great club.
It only took Nemo two minutes to open their scoring courtesy of a magnificent Ronan Dalton white flag but the West Cork side responded through Cork panellist Conor Cahalane. Both sides were playing good open football.
Nemo then got on top and led by the good movement of Ross Corkery, they rattled off three unanswered points. Credit to Castlehaven, they refused to panic and with Conor Cahalane showing his class, they soon reduced the deficit to the minimum.
Nemo got their noses in front again courtesy of a classy Luke Horgan point. The Haven were struggling to break down the stringent Nemo defence and, with the exception of Cahalane, looked well short of firepower.
The first goal came four minutes before the break when Nemo pierced the Castlehaven defence and despite Stephen Cronin's first shot getting stopped, Colin Molloy followed up to guide the ball to the empty net.
Nemo drove on again and a sweeping move saw Luke Horgan taken down inside the square. Up stepped Corkery but despite hitting a well-placed shot, it was parried out for a 45 following a splendid Darragh Cahalane save.
The final action of the half saw Cork sub keeper Micheál Aodh Martin split the pots from the resultant 45 that helped the Trabeg side go in at the break with a seven-point lead: 1-10 to 0-6.
Nemo continued to dominate and when Jack O’Brien exposed sloppy Castlehaven defending in the 41st minute with an opportunistic goal, they looked dead and buried.
Barry Cripps, just returned from his travels in Australia, came off with 11 minutes remaining and from there, Nemo failed to get vital possession and didn't score again.
The Castlehaven scoring avalanche began with a monstrous Cathal Maguire two-pointer and three more outside the arc from Danny O’Donovan (2) and Conor Cahalane stunned the Nemo outfit into submission.
Nemo will rightfully feel aggrieved with some decisions that went against them but this was a game they certainly lost control of after dominating for long periods.
R Corkery 0-5 (0-2 f), C Molloy, J O’Brien 1-0 each, L Horgan, D O’Sullivan, O Whyte 0-2 each, R Dalton, S Cronin, C Shalloe, MA Martin (45) 0-1 each.
C Cahalane 0-8 (2 2pt), D O’Donovan 0-4 (2 2pt), J Walsh 1-1, C Maguire 0-3 (1-2pt), M Maguire 0-3 (0-1f).
MA Martin; N O’Shea, M Hill, C Moore; L Horgan, C Molloy, S Cronin; E Kelly, B Cripps; O Whyte, R Dalton, C Shalloe; J O’Brien, R Corkery, D O’Sullivan.
D Callanan for E Kelly (h-t), P Kerrigan for B Cripps (49).
D Cahalane; D O’Callaghan, J Bohane, S Walsh; T O’Mahony, R Maguire, G O’Driscoll; A Whelton, J O’Neill; R Minehane, C Maguire, C Cahalane; D O’Donovan, C Nolan, M Maguire.
J Walsh for R Maguire (h-t), S O’Connell for G O’Driscoll (49), K O’Donovan for C Nolan (49).
Pa O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers).
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