Kerrigan hits 1-5 as Nemo have too much for Mallow in Cork Premier SFC semi

Paul Kerrigan's early second half goal was a dagger to Mallow's chances.

Cork SFC semi-final: Nemo Rangers 2-11 Mallow 1-5

In a world gone mad, Nemo Rangers remain as consistent as ever. On Sunday in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh they qualified for the final of the Cork PSFC for the fifth time in six seasons as they had too much class, guile and experience for a Mallow side for whom Mattie Taylor stood out.

There was a feeling that last year’s final loss to Castlehaven might have signalled a period of transition for them, but Nemo don’t do transition, they just continuously keep to their traditions. They may have had more star-studded teams in their history, but their current manifestation is all about balance.

Their mean defence, driven by Briain Murphy and Colin Molloy, allowed Mallow only two Seán Hayes points in the second half. Their midfield pairing of Alan O’Donovan and Barry Cripps seemed to be everywhere. Up front Mark Cronin hit Mallow for 1-3, Ronan Dalton worked tirelessly to link the play from centre-forward. And then there’s Paul Kerrigan. He kicked 1-5 and it was the goal that put any hint of doubt about the outcome to bed.

Nemo led by 0-8 to 1-3 at the break, and there were six minutes of the second half gone when Kerrigan lined up a free under the North Stand only for it to come back off the post. Mallow picked up the break, but Bryan Hayes forced the turnover before playing in Cronin who in turn passed across the square for Kerrigan to palm home. With the goal went Mallow’s chances, and though they kept plugging away, the sense of inevitability was palpable.

Molloy and Murphy then drove forward to set Cronin up for his second of the day and though Hayes responded for Mallow, a Kerrigan free left Nemo 1-10 to 1-4 to the good with fifteen to go. That they only scored 1-1 from there will give Robbie O’Dwyer plenty to work on for the coming fortnight, as will the nine shots at goal that went astray. But they will have another day.

Cronin kicked his third point to put seven between them with ten to go, and from there, not much happened. Hayes kicked over his second, and as classy as it was it never felt like it was going to be of the rallying variety. Then, in the final minute, Cronin applied the cherry to the top of the cake as he cracked home Nemo’s second goal of the afternoon, and indeed the championship. Job done, again.
Whether Mallow would be burdened or liberated by the underdog tag very much depended on how they started. Initially, it looked like the former as Nemo started with purpose. Briain Murphy drove forward from corner back to open the scoring and from the resultant kickout Conor Horgan set up Mark Cronin for the game’s second score.

A fine point from Kevin Sheehan then settled Mallow’s nerves and they then had a sight of goal when good play from Mattie Taylor and Mark Kelleher allowed Jack Dillon to take aim but when he fired, it rattled back off the crossbar. Moments later Paul Kerrigan rattled the Mallow bar with a floated effort before the goal that was threatened finally arrived.

Sam Copps played the ball into Seán McDonnell, and he jinked his way through the Nemo defence before cracking the ball past Micheál A Martin. The goal didn’t signal a Mallow surge, however, as Nemo just stuck to the process. Kerrigan levelled the game for the first time before Ronan Dalton traded points with McDonnell. Two Kerrigan scores then sandwiched another effort from Dalton and Nemo were 0-8 to 1-2 in front.

Mallow needed a score; Mark Tobin provided it, and they trailed by two at the short whistle. From there any hopes they had of causing an upset evaporated when Kerrigan found the net.

Scorers for Nemo: P Kerrigan (1-5, 0-3 frees), M Cronin (1-3), R Dalton (0-2), B Murphy (0-1)

Scorers for Mallow: S McDonnell (1-1, 0-1 free), S Hayes (0-2), K Sheehan and M Tobin (0-1 each)

NEMO RANGERS: M A Martin; E Mation, B Murphy, C Molloy; S Cronin, K Fulignati, K O’Donovan; A O’Donovan (c), B Cripps; C Horgan, M Cronion, J Horgan; R Corkery, R Dalton, P Kerrigan.

Subs: B Hayes for Corkery (h/t), C McCartan for C Horgan (58), A Cronin for Nation (60)

MALLOW: K Doyle; B Myers, P Lyons, E Barry; P Hennessy, M Taylor, S Copps; S Merritt, S O’Callaghan; JM Tobin, R Harkin, S McDonnell; K Sheehan, J Dillon, M Kelleher.

Subs: S Hayes for Kelleher (h/t), J Loughrey for Sheehan (40), E Stanton for O’Callaghan (50), L Walsh for Barry (55).

Referee: Conor Lane (Banteer/Lyre).