Desmond shines as Carrigaline edge Nemo to claim Division 1 title

Carrigaline only moved up to the top league division after they won Division 2 last summer.

Cork GAA Division 1 final: Carrigaline 0-10 Nemo Rangers 0-8

Carrigaline powered past Nemo Rangers to claim the McCarthy Insurance Cork Division 1 football league title at a wet Shanbally on Friday night.

There was no doubting they were the better team and Michael Meaney’s side deserve massive credit to have had the strength to keep their heads after being relegated from the top tier of the championship to senior A late last year.

And it must be mentioned too, they’ve only moved up to the top league division after they won Division 2 last summer.

That they took the game to Nemo Rangers with Seán Mellett’s crucial penalty save from Paul Kerrigan, just three minutes in, showed their intent.

With the exception of the opening quarter when Nemo Rangers led 0-2 to 0-1, Carrigaline proved defiant.

Cork senior Brian O’Driscoll, who transferred to the club this year, pulled a lot of strings.

Man-of-the-match Éanna Desmond supplied 50 percent of their tally, while Brian Coakley was a towering figure at centre-forward.

But it was defensively where they performed their duty so well, the win built around a wind-assisted first half during which they held Nemo to three points - all from the boot of Mark Cronin and all from well-struck placed balls.

The county champions from two years ago tallied 11 wides overall, which didn’t help their cause either.

When the sides met in the group stage, Nemo came out on top by a few points. This time, Carrigaline’s energy all over the field was evident.

They had one hand on the Bryan O’Loughlin Cup after a powerful second quarter, which saw them kick five unanswered points.

Desmond started the run capitalising on a stray kick-out.

Captain Jack McCarthy followed with a huge point and Niall Coakley made it 0-4 to 0-2 with five minutes to go to half-time - the full-forward might even have gone for goal and Kevin O’Reilly roared into the contest with his brace.

Nemo, albeit short a couple of first-choice players including Cork’s Kevin O’Donovan who is carrying a knock, and they lost Ronan Dalton in the warm-up (replaced by Jack Coogan), hadn’t scored for almost 20 minutes - Cronin left them 0-6 to 0-3 in arrears at the break.

Two minutes into the second-half, Desmond scored his third point.

Wing-back Kevin Kavanagh pushed Carrigaline double scores ahead once more.

Nemo hadn’t gone away, and twice they pulled it back to three points Stephen Cronin’s effort on 49 minutes made it 0-9 to 0-6.

Desmond was a thorn in their side all evening long, and when he was fouled and converted the free himself, the cushion was four and five minutes remaining.

Nemo didn’t go easy though with Gary Sayers and Mark Cronin producing the last two scores.

So, a night of deserved celebration in Carrigaline, who will next turn their attention to Ballingeary in the first round of the SAFC, while Nemo Rangers will get ready for PSFC against Ballincollig.

Scorers for Carrigaline: É Desmond (0-5, 0-3 frees), K O’Reilly (0-2, 0-1 mark), J McCarthy, K Kavanagh and N Coakley (0-1 each).

Scorers for Nemo Rangers: M Cronin (0-5, 0-3 frees), G Sayers, A O’Donovan and S Cronin (0-1 each).

CARRIGALINE: S Mellett; N Quirke, I Sheerin, D King; K Kavanagh, C O’Herlihy, J McCarthy (Capt); D Greene, C Barry; A Cohalan, B Coakley, B O’Driscoll; K O’Reilly, N Coakley, É Desmond.

Subs: D Griffin for C Barry (45), N O’Keeffe for D Greene (52).

NEMO RANGERS: M A Martin; E Nation, C McCartan, A Cronin; S Cronin, K Fulignati, L Horgan; A O’Donovan (Capt), B Cripps; R Corkery, M Cronin, O Whyte; G Sayers, J Coogan, P Kerrigan.

Subs: C Kiely for J Coogan (half-time).

Referee: John Ryan (Macroom).