THE INSIDE TRACK: Castlehaven can triumph if Nemo’s goal threat nullified

AT the start of the season the vast majority would have picked one of three teams to win the 2023 County Premier Senior football championship. The Barrs were many people’s favourites, followed by defending champions Nemo with Castlehaven next in line. On form this season that list of three can be reversed.

On Sunday its City versus Country, a mouth-watering prospect, Nemo Rangers versus Castlehaven in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Nemo’s success rate in finals is astonishing. They have won 23 titles out of 27 final appearances: an 85% win rate. Their first title came in 1972, 51 years ago. They’ve won almost half the senior championship titles on offer since and five of the last 10.

Castlehaven's Johnny O'Regan and Jack Cahalane celebrate after their teams victory over Ballincollig's in the Bon Secours Cork PSFC quarter-final at Enniskeane. (Photo: Paddy Feen)

In the normal scheme of things Castlehaven aren’t doing so bad either, with five titles from nine final appearances. Their first came in 1989. A strike rate of 56% but it has been 10 years since Andy Scannell last visited Castletownsend or Union Hall. Only four teams have beaten Nemo Rangers in a final and the boys from the west are one of them. That was 2013. Before that, you would have to go back all the way to 1999 when UCC overturned them.

If Nemo win, Paul Kerrigan will be climbing the steps at Pairc Ui Chaoimh for an astonishing 10th time. In the last 10 years they have met in the final three times: the aforementioned 2013, and again in 2015 and 2020, with Nemo coming out on top in both of those. There is still a smattering of players from both sides leading the charge a decade on. Brian Hurley kicked 12 points, seven from frees in that 16 points to 1-11 victory and back-to-back county titles in 2012 and 2013. Other survivors from that day are brother Michael, Damien Cahalane, and Mark Collins. In contrast to that, Nemo won after a replay in 2015 and Hurley didn’t score from play in either game. Lesson learnt by the Trabeg boys.

Three years ago in 2020 was the inaugural staging of the revamped county championship. It was scheduled to start in April but it was postponed due to the pandemic. The final wasn’t played until August 2021, 329 days after the semi-final, with two Luke Connolly goals deciding the game in Nemo’s favour. That day Briain Murphy picked up Hurley and held him to two from play, with doubts about his fitness in the lead up. In and around 10 players from each side who played in that final will take to the field again on Sunday.

In the intervening time the players who have come into the Castlehaven team have done more to improve them than Nemo’s introductions have for their starting side. The likes of Sean Brown, Jack O’Neill and Thomas O’Mahony have all played big roles in Haven’s run to the final. Ally that to the existing talents of the Maguires, the Cahalanes, the Hurleys, and Mark Collins and you get a feel for why they are many peoples favourites to come out on top on Sunday.

Nevertheless the bookies have Nemo as slight favourites and it’s easy to see why based on their record and also based on what they did against the Barrs last year. The Barrs were on course to complete the double, but Nemo came and played them off the park for 50 minutes to win by four. This season Nemo did enough to overcome Duhallow in the semi-final and did enough to stay clear of Clon in the game of bog ball in Bandon. They have a habit of getting it just right for finals and rely on the Cronins, O’Donovan, Kerrigan, and Connolly to pull the strings. However, their bench is of questionable strength.

Michael Hurley played his best football in years in the epic semifinal victory over the Barrs. He along with Brian and Jack Cahalane were afforded acres of space as Castlehaven’s high- paced transition play tore the Barrs’ defensive structures to shreds. Nemo will not be as naive. The Barrs got closer than they should have through goals. Ballincollig should also have had three before they eventually got their first to run the Haven close in the quarter-final in Enniskeane. Their defensive structure is prone to lapses when ran at with slick hands and well-timed runs. The concession of goals will have kept James McCarthy awake at night, but no stone will have been left unturned to get to the crux of that problem.

One of the reasons Nemo, Castlehaven, and the Barrs are the top three teams in the county is that they have the top three ‘go to’ men in the county in Luke Connolly, Brian Hurley, and Stephen Sherlock respectively. In 2020, Luke Connolly got two goals to decide that game. In the semi-final this year he got 2-3 without breaking sweat. Give him a sniff and he will do the audacious. Will Ronan Walsh be given the job like he was against Sherlock? Or will the likes of Rory Maguire be sacrificed to quell Connolly’s influence? Briain Murphy will most likely pick up Brian Hurley, but minding Michael and Jack Cahalane will be a worry for Nemo manager Paul O’Donovan also.

This game will most likely be decided by something spectacular or by a mistake. I think the Haven are better this year than they have been in a few years, but you can’t write off Nemo in a final. If Nemo don’t get goals, I think the cup will come west.