Nemo Rangers owned the middle third to wrestle Andy Scannell Cup from Barrs
WAR ZONE: Brian Hayes of St Finbarr's in action against Briain Murphy of Nemo Rangers at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Murphy had a massive impact at midfield. Picture: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile
Glory for Nemo Rangers. A fourth consecutive final defeat avoided, but they were never really in any doubt. It was as convincing and as firm as Robbie Dwyer would have wanted.
Oh so similar to the Barrs’ hurling defeat the week prior. Reminiscent too of the southside derby in the 2022 football decider, where Nemo were all too comfortable for far too long, and St Finbarr’s only stirred in the closing stages.
On that occasion, the Barrs hit Nemo for 2-4 in the final 20 minutes. Here, they managed 1-4 in the closing 20. Neither of those tallies was ever going to be sufficient.
Nemo were much the better side here. They made great use of the strong first-half wind but it’s not as if that was the deciding factor. From the start, the Barrs were sluggish. They didn’t get off the mark until the 18th minute. By that stage, Nemo already had 0-7 on the board.
The kick-outs dictated this contest more than anything, and Nemo’s superiority on the breaks was the difference in the middle third. The Barrs targeted width, and even when they won Darragh Newman’s restarts, immediately they found themselves under pressure.
Countless breaking balls from Barrs kick-outs led to turnovers. Alan O’Donovan and Bríain Murphy were immense in the middle third.
The pair put huge pressure on Ian Maguire and Brian Hayes – both of whom were very influential for the Barrs – and it changed the game. Far too often the Barrs were shut down on their own restarts. It’s why they found it so difficult to get back into the game and establish control in the second half.
Hayes in particular was so well marshalled by Murphy. The Nemo midfielder followed him in too when the Barrs threw Hayes in full-forward. Even with the fact that change yielded a goal from Hayes, he was constantly under pressure from the Nemo number nine. The 26-year-old was immense.
Title 24 for the Trabeg side, but that number comes up elsewhere. The average age of their starting team on Sunday was 27, but 24.5 when only their six forwards are accounted for.
Young Dara O’Sullivan will have much more to offer too, and the substitute is only 19. With the age profile that Nemo have up front, that consecutive run of final appearances could be stretched further again.
There has been no leaning on one man across this season, it has been a phenomenal group effort, and that goes for the defensive end too.
Kevin O’Donovan was immense in the semi-final in dealing with Brian O’Driscoll, and Kieran Histon did a stellar job in the decider on Sherlock.
They’ve averaged only 16.2 points conceded per game across this year’s championship. Only Valley Rovers and Clonakilty boasted better defensive efforts.
The Barrs’ double hopes and dreams quickly turned into a nightmare. Two finals where they’ll feel like they left an awful lot after them. But were the signs there?
They managed to get through the group stages winning one game and losing two. In the hurling, they also only managed one win, beating Bride Rovers, drawing with Newcestown and losing to Midleton.
In both, their quarter-finals were played against divisional teams they swatted aside. Granted both semi-final victories were impressive, but they were wins against an underdog.
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This is not to suggest that the Barrs weren’t in the finals on merit – managing it in both codes takes some going, even if the crossover isn’t as prominent as it is with other dual clubs – but they showed weakness. That weakness wasn’t there in last year’s run to the football decider.
Rangers also waited until round two to get their campaign up and running, but they’ve been faultless since. They hammered St Michael’s and Valley Rovers, and held their nerve in two tight games to bring down Castlehaven and Carrigaline.
Loughmore-Castleiney await in Munster for Rangers. They’ll be heavy favourites against the Tipperary champions and will absolutely fancy themselves to reach the decider.
Dr Crokes eased to glory over Kenmare Shamrocks in Kerry and the 2024 title winners sit on the opposite side of the draw. Is it unfair to call it a Cork-Kerry decider? Nemo will be gunning for it anyway.
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