Nemo make winning return to Munster arena against Loughmore Castleiney
Nemo Rangers' Kevin O'Donovan manoeuvres past Loughmore’s Tomás McGrath at Páirc Ui Rinn. Picture: Chani Anderson
It took Nemo Rangers an uncomfortably long time to find their feet, but once they got to grips in the second half, this Munster Senior Club Football Championship quarter final against Loughmore-Castleiney was a foregone conclusion.
In front of 1,201 at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday, Nemo took flight in the 40th minute, stitching together a run of 0-8 unanswered in the space of 10 minutes. Nemo outscored their opponents 0-12 to 0-2 from the 34th to 57th minutes.
Mark Cronin led the way in that purple patch once more, the Nemo sharpshooter slotting over a wonderful two-pointer from play before adding another from a placed ball shortly after. When John McGrath set up Ciarán Connolly for Loughmore’s fourth point in the 38th minute, they were behind by the minimum.
When Liam McGrath got their next score from a free, the gap was out to eight after 51 minutes. The second period was a complete non-contest. Ross Corkery sparked late on to tack on a few points, but for large spells it felt as though Nemo didn’t even need to stretch themselves.
Once Nemo started to perform, Loughmore-Castleiney had simply no answer for the Trabeg sides quality.
And while the scoreline at the finish is likely what would have been expected pre-game, it looked so unlikely in the opening period. And remarkably so.
It took Loughmore-Castleiney almost 19 minutes to get their first point on the board, and they were fortunate that the run wasn’t longer. In the build-up to that opening Liam McGrath free, Noel McGrath had fed Liam with an excellent kick pass from deep, and he tried to force a goal chance that wasn’t there.
Rather than coughing up possession – as Loughmore had done countless times up to that point – Liam McGrath won a free which he converted to get them off the mark. Had they been taking points when the chances presented themselves at that stage, they would have been in front.
Loughmore’s pitiful number of white flags is reflected in the six first-half wides they registered.
Nemo Rangers hardly fared much better, though. Granted their efficiency was better – they scored a total of 0-6 and registered one wide in that opening spell – but they couldn’t create and couldn’t get control of the middle third.
Two of those six Nemo points arrived in the final two minutes of the first half. Up to that point, they’d been trailing.
Loughmore finally managed to convert a goal chance after 21 minutes, and even that needed two attempts. Liam Treacy passed to Tipp hurler John McGrath and he set up Liam McGrath, and while Liam’s initial effort was saved by Micheál Aodh Martin, John scooped up the loose ball and blasted to the net to level the game, 1-1 to 0-4.
When brother Noel McGrath tacked on a superb two-pointer the Tipp champions had the lead. Nemo would restore parity before the interval, and once the second half got underway, Nemo finally started to perform.
M Cronin 0-9 (1 tp, 1 tpf, 0-3 f), R Corkery 0-3, K O’Donovan, C Horgan 0-2 each, K Histon, L Horgan, R Dalton 0-1 each.
J McGrath 1-2 (1 tpf), L McGrath 0-3 f, N McGrath 0-2 (1 tp), C Connolly 0-1.
MA Martin; C Molloy, M Hill, K Histon; K O’Donovan, S Cronin, J Horgan; A O’Donovan, B Murphy; M Cronin, L Horgan, C Shalloe; R Corkery, R Dalton, C Horgan.
J Quinn for O’Connell (39), A McGrath for Treacy (51), P McCahey for T McGrath (57), M Ryan for Maher (59), W Eviston for Egan (60).
S Hennessy; T McGrath, J Ryan, L Egan; T Maher, E O’Connell, D McCahey; N McGrath, B McGrath; C Connolly, J McGrath, L Treacy; L McGrath, E Connolly, P O’Connell.
B Hayes for Shalloe (41), C Moore for Horgan (43), N O’Shea for O’Donovan (60+3), E Nation for Hill (60+4).
C Maguire (Wolfe Tones Na Sionna, Clare)
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