Nemo's county final priority will be trying to shut down Brian Hurley

Castlehaven talisman was at his absolute best in the victory over St Finbarr's

Eleven years ago on Sunday, Brian Hurley reeled off 0-12 against Nemo Rangers as Castlehaven defended their county title.

Those memories came flooding back as he produced a virtuoso 0-11 haul to secure a repeat Haven-Nemo final in 2024. Neither time nor injuries have slowed his productivity.

This performance had claims of being an even better innings with a whopping seven points from play. It was his first-half showing, in particular, which will rank among the best halves by a Cork footballer.

In those 30 minutes, he had 11 possessions and kicked eight shots. All eight sailed between the posts. Four off of his right peg and four off of his left. Six of those were from play.

Many he carved with solo brilliance via long-range curlers and cutting inside defenders. Both frees he converted after himself being fouled.

Often, Hurley was spotted standing or strolling inside Barrs' territory, pointing and directing his teammates, and then taking off with a burst of clarity and pace to find the ball and space to exploit.

His colleagues knew the run to look out for and located him time and again. Their ability to scrap for breaks off the opposition kick-out gave them a platform to expose the Barrs’ one-on-one defence. It all started in the second minute when Hurley raced onto possession 55 metres out and wheeling towards the South Stand.

Closely trailed, he produced a spin move to escape and launched a booming kick off his right. His 12th-minute free gave the Haven a 0-4 to 0-3 lead they would never relinquish. His fingerprints were all over the subsequent barrage of scores.

His third off his right was a 40-metre skyscraper. His next three would come from his other boot. He worked down the North Stand side from the 45 before shimmying inside for a measured curler. He jinked back to reverse course around the D for his fifth, leaving his marker for dust.

The starting point and shot location for his sixth were a mirror image of his opener; taking the ball 55 metres out and working his way within range, this time on his left, converting despite an attempted diving block.

His seventh was won from another direct kick pass, taking a sliding mark that the referee upgraded to a free-kick. For his eighth, Hurley came charging out on the loop, standing up the defender before launching over his head from the 45 off his left boot.

If the Cork captain’s miss to start the second half broke the spell, he kept ticking over with two frees and another from play.

His 0-11 is the joint-highest tally of the year, although he was the only one to do so without any green flags. The others were Steven Sherlock (Barrs v Valley Rovers) and Ed Myers (Muskerry v Avondhu), who both netted 2-5.

History and form will tell Nemo the first man they need to shackle.

Even more encouraging for the Haven was that they produced this performance without two of their Cahalane totems until the closing stages.

Damien Cahalane underwent a procedure on his knee in the past month but gave everything to be fit enough for a seven-minute cameo to repel the Barrs’ late aerial assault. Conor, meanwhile, was making his first appearance of the campaign when introduced with 19 minutes to play.

His driving runs closed out the game, assisting his brother Jack and Hurley’s 11th. That display will give him every chance to feature prominently in the final.

Their younger sibling Jack landed three points and could’ve added two goals. As well as tidying up their finishing, Haven will seek to reinforce their defence. Half the Barrs’ 0-14 total came from kick-out moves cancelling out a preceding Haven score.

COMFORTABLE

In the earlier semi-final, Nemo were rarely troubled aside from an early Mallow lunge. Like Hurley’s heroics, Paul Kerrigan is even more central than ever to Nemo since Luke Connolly’s injury-enforced retirement.

He peppered 11 shots at the posts for a 1-5 tally and returned the favour by assisting the other goal for Mark Cronin (1-3).

Just as notable was the contribution of their defenders when charging forward. Rising star Colin Molloy and Kevin O’Donovan each assisted a pair of points. Bríain Murphy scored one, assisted another, and could’ve been played in for a goal chance.

Going the other direction, Mallow were within a crossbar’s width of becoming the third team to post two goals against Nemo this year.

Those backmen will have a key say in the final, both instigating attacks and containing the Haven danger.