Nemo Rangers 1-16
Ballincollig 1-14
GER McCARTHY REPORTS
BRAGGING rights – and Group 3 points – rested with Nemo Rangers after they defeated Ballincollig in their McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC opener.
Nemo underlined why they will be one of the teams to beat with a two-point win over an equally impressive Ballincollig at Ballygarvan on Friday.
‘Winning the first game takes the pressure off,’ Nemo manager Robbie O’Dwyer told The Southern Star.
‘We have a lot of fellas coming back from injury. There is now three or four weeks which will give us a block where we can get them back to full fitness. We want to push on and win all of our games.’
The two sides needed little introduction having clashed in the 2023 and ’24 championships. Nemo won on both occasions. Now, make that three in a row.
It was 0-3 apiece after the first ten minutes with Ben O’Connell, Luke Fahy and Sean Kiely efforts answered by Nemo’s Mark Cronin (free), Kevin O’Donovan and Brian Hayes. A brace of Cronin frees edged Rangers two clear.
Ballincollig’s swift counterattacks saw the village up the tempo. As a result, Nemo goalkeeper Micheál Aodh Martin tipped over a Darragh O’Mahony attempt before pulling off an even better stop to deny Fahy.
Brian Hayes made it 0-6 to 0-4 before Ben O’Connell and Sean Kiely efforts leveled matters for a third time. Cian Dorgan’s two-point free handed Ballincollig their first lead since the eighth minute. Then, a six-man move ended with Ballincollig’s Sean O’Neill diving and palming to the net on the stroke of half time.
Down five at the break, 1-8 to 0-6, Nemo dominated Ballincollig’s kick-outs, as Cronin (two), Aodh Martin (45), Conor Horgan and Bryan Hayes scores levelled matters after 43 minutes.
Ballincollig responded superbly – Peter O’Neill, Cian Dorgan and Sean O’Neill all scored to push ahead again, 1-11 to 0-11.
Nemo’s potent attack bared its teeth however, as Ronan Dalton set up Brian Hayes to net a cracking goal. With 15 minutes remaining, Rangers moved four ahead courtesy of three Cronin scores (two frees) and a Dalton point.
Once again, Ballincollig mustered a comeback with a brace of Dorgan frees offset by a Brian Murphy score. Down a goal, Ballincollig poured forward with Darragh O’Mahony converting in injury-time. A late two-point blocked attempt denied Podsie O’Mahony’s team a draw, something the Ballincollig manager felt his players deserved.
‘It would have been nice to get a draw,’ O’Mahony said. ‘Overall, you’d think we might have deserved it. The third quarter cost us. We didn’t get on top in midfield and lost a few breaking balls. After a really good first half, if we were a bit more clinical, we could have had one or two more goals.’
Our Star: Cork senior Mark Cronin was a danger whenever positioned close to goal and finished with 0-8, six from frees.
Scorers
Nemo Rangers: Mark Cronin 0-8 (6f); Brian Hayes 1-3; Micheál Aodh Martin (45), Brian Murphy, Kevin O’Donovan, Ronan Dalton, Conor Horgan 0-1 each.
Ballincollig: Conor Dorgan 0-5 (1 tpf, 2f); Sean O’Neill 1-1; Sean Kiely, Darragh O’Mahony 0-2 each; Luke Fahy, David O’Leary, Peter O’Neill, Ben O’Connell 0-1 each.
Nemo Rangers: Micheál Aodh Martin; Kieran Histon, Colin Molloy, Mark Hill; Eoin Nation, Stephen Cronin, Ciarán McCartan; Alan O’Donovan, Brian Murphy; Barry Cripps, Mark Cronin, Kevin O’Donovan; Brian Hayes, Ronan Dalton, Conor Horgan.
Subs: Luke Horgan for C Horgan (48); Kevin Fulignati for A O’Donovan (58, inj).
Ballincollig: Jack Gibbons; JP Murphy, Liam Jennings, Colin Moore; Donnacha Desmond, Frank Down, Luke Fahy; Sean Kiely, Peter O’Neill; Sean O’Neill, David O’Leary, Ben O’Connell; Dara Dorgan, Cian Dorgan, Darragh O’Mahony.
Subs: Conor Dalton for C Moore (23, inj); Evan Cooke for B O’Connell (44); Tadhg O’Connell for D Dorgan (54).
Referee: James Regan (Lough Rovers).
