Magic Mike fires Castlehaven back to the top

Castlehaven 0-11

Nemo Rangers 0-9

NOEL HORGAN REPORTS

IT could be argued the form-book was reliable in the lead-up to Sunday’s Bon Secours Premier Senior Football Championship final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Installed as marginal favourites following their impressive showing when dispatching St Finbarr’s in the semi-final, Castlehaven duly delivered the goods against a Nemo Rangers side that hadn’t exactly set the world on fire in their penultimate encounter with Duhallow.

There was no comparison, however, between what the Haven produced in a lacklustre decider and their exhilarating display when securing their ticket to the showpiece. That was always likely to be the case, of course, given that Nemo, having watched the Caslehaven forwards wreak havoc in the Barrs game, were bound to go in with a defence-orientated game-plan.

Castlehaven's Jack O'Neill breaks from Nemo Rangers' Luke Horgan during the county final.
(Photo: Paddy Feen)

Castlehaven manager James McCarthy said he knew what to expect from Nemo, and that every score would be hard-earned on the day.

‘It was always going to be a tactical battle, we were fully aware of that, and, as things turned out, it was tit-for-tat for most of the hour. ‘We led for a lot of it, but we fell behind after half time, and we had to dig deep to eventually get over the line,’ he admitted.

That it was a final that won’t linger long in the memory won’t bother the Haven in the slightest, as the result ended their ten-year barren spell, and their win was deserved on the overall run of the play.

The pattern of the game was set from the outset, with Nemo packing their defence, allowing Castlehaven to monopolise possession further out the field.

Michael Hurley and Brian Hurley landed a couple of early points for Castlehaven, but they found it increasingly difficult to penetrate as the first half progressed.

It was painful to watch, with pedestrian build-ups on the Haven’s part the order of the day, although Michael Hurley made one or two darting runs to show flashes of what he was capable of producing, and did so to telling effect in the second half.

Placed by Cathal Maguire, he kicked another point to make it 0-3 to 0-2 in the 21st minute, but Nemo must have been happy enough with the way things were shaping up at that juncture. They had reduced the contest to a dog-fight, preventing the Haven from functioning with the sparkle that had highlighted the majority of their displays earlier in the campaign.

It was 0-4 apiece at the interval after a Sean Browne point – resulting from a precision cross by Brian Hurley – for Castlehaven had been negated by a converted free by Nemo’s Mark Cronin.

Shane, Brian and Michael Hurley celebrate with their mother Patricia.
(Photo: George Hatchell)

Ominously for the Haven, Nemo took the lead for the first time when Luke Connolly pointed within a minute of the resumption. That was Connolly’s second point from play, and he was clearly the forward Nemo were hoping to inflict most damage on the counter-attack.

Aside from his lack of a decent service, Connolly’s failure to make a major impact owed much to the tenacity of Casrtlehaven’s Ronan Walsh, who added to his growing reputation as a man-marker of considerable substance.

Once Nemo hit the front, they weren’t overhauled until a Brian Hurley point from a free restored the advantage to the Haven, 0-10 to 0-9, in stoppage time.

It had been a case of score for score in the interim, with a brace of Brian Hurley frees keeping the Haven well in touch during the third quarter. They were 0-7 to 0-6 behind, however, when Nemo had a couple of chances to extend their advantage, both of which went begging. The normally reliable Luke Connolly, from a long-range free, and Craig Horgan were the villains of the piece as far as Nemo were concerned, and, arguably, those misses marked the game’s turning point.

True, Nemo were still a point to the good with 58 minutes gone, with Mark Cronin, from a free, and midfielder Barry Cripps both having replied to a sublime Michael Hurley score in the interim.

The likelihood is, however, the Haven would have been hard-pressed to prevail had they slipped more than a point behind in the second half, as was acknowledged by James McCarthy afterwards.

That they got over the line in a nail-biting finale was primarily down to the Hurley brothers, as Brian – the star of the show when the Haven beat Nemo in the 2013 final – pointed a mark and a free he had won himself before Michael, fed by the hard-working Cathal Maguire, posted the insurance score with time almost up.

Scorers

Castlehaven: M Hurley 0-5; B Hurley 0-5 (3f, 1m); S Browne 0-1.

Nemo Rangers: L Connolly (1f), M Cronin (1f) 0-3 each;, J Horgan, B O’Driscoll, B Cripps 0-1 each.

Castlehaven: Darragh Cahalane; R Walsh, R Maguire, J O’Regan; T O’Mahony, Damien Cahalane, M Collins; C Cahalane, A Whelton; J O’Neill, C Maguire, S Browne; M Hurley, B Hurley, J Cahalane.

Subs: C O’Driscoll for Browne (47), R Minihane for Whelton (49), J O’Driscoll for O’Neill (56), C O’Sullivan for O’Mahony (60).

Nemo Rangers: MA Martin; K Histon, B Murphy, K O’Donovan; K Fulignati, C Molloy, S Cronin; B Cripps, A O’Donovan; C Horgan, B O’Driscoll, J Horgan; M Cronin, L Horgan, L Connolly.

Subs: P Kerrigan for L Horgan (46), R Dalton for O’Driscoll (47), G Sayers for Molloy (49), C Kiely for C Horan (56).

Referee: P O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers).