Bryan Hayes in top form as Nemo Rangers ease to league win over Douglas

Home side were always in control in this McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 Football League opener

Nemo Rangers 0-18 (0-2-14) Douglas 1-6 (1-0-6)

Author: Dylan O'Connell

Bryan Hayes stole the show as Nemo Rangers opened their McCarthy Insurance Group Division 1 Football League campaign with an impressive victory over rivals Douglas at Trabeg on Sunday morning.

The former Cork U20 star kicked nine points, including two orange flags late on, as Robbie O’Dwyer’s side got the job done as conditions worsened.

Nemo went into the break leading 0-8 to 0-3 and never looked like getting caught. Niall Hartnett did get a 58th-minute goal by punching the ball in, despite protests that he was inside the square, but that was too little too late following a period that produced just three points for the visitors.

There was a real feeling of first day back at school about this, with both teams giving minutes to those coming through from their underage ranks, including Hayes and Corkery, while Jack Cunningham was on for Douglas after last November's U21 county.

What played out was an entertaining first half that began with Hayes cancelling out an early white flag by Cunningham. Nemo pushed up during this period and squeezed Douglas on their kick-outs, which led to two quick goal chances in the eighth minute.

Corkery flicked the first one wide at the back post and Stephen Cronin missed the second with a soccer-style finish after Briain Murphy knocked the ball on for the corner-back.

Nemo went on to generate scores through Conor Horgan and Hayes, as the club went in front at 0-4 to 0-2. James Burke and Eoin O’Flynn kept Douglas in the game during these periods, as the home side continued to create space and find avenues for players like Colin Molloy and Hayes to put the ball over the bar. This earned Nemo a three-point advantage at the break, and they added to this haul with Colm Kiely splitting the posts within seconds of the restart.

Ronan Dalton was then brought down and a kickable free was sent over by Hayes, pushing Nemo further in front at 0-10 to 0-5.

Nemo had momentum and everything felt easy as a result. Even their subs operated with relative ease, with Conor Yelland announcing his arrival by driving the ball over from inside the arc.

This continued with a 0-3 run involving Corkery, Hayes, and Dalton, as their lead grew to 0-13 to 0-5.

Douglas looked out of ideas while Nemo ran the show, with a goal being the only thing missing from the haul as time went on. Andrew Cotter was a big reason for that as the goalkeeper produced a string of excellent saves throughout the day to keep the home side out.

Nemo did manage to rubber-stamp the win with the two Hayes orange flags, with the one from play the game’s best score in the 58th minute.

Scorers for Nemo Rangers: B Hayes 0-9 (2pt, 1 2pt f), R Corkery, C Kiely, R Dalton (0-1 f) 0-2 each, C Horgan, C Molloy, C Yelland 0-1 each.

Douglas: N Hartnett 1-0, J Cunningham 0-2, A O’Hare (f), J Burke, E O’Flynn, D Ward 0-1 each.

NEMO: C Martin; E Nation, M Hill, C Moore; C Molloy, S Cronin, K Fulignati; B Murphy, E Kelly; C Kiely, R Dalton, L Horgan; R Corkery, C Horgan, B Hayes.

Subs: C Yelland for Kiely (40); C O’Neill for Moore (40), N O’Shea for Kelly (57).

DOUGLAS: A Cotter; N Lynch, J O’Callaghan Maher, D Ward; J Burke, D Buckley, D Callaghan; S Aherne, C Kingston; K Shanhan, L Dwan Fogarty, A Cantwell; A O’Hare, J Cunningham, E O’Flynn.

Subs: N Hartnett for O’Callaghan Maher (13); D Mac Phaidin for Shanahan (46), S O’Leary for O’Flynn (55).

Referee: P O’Driscoll (Bride Rovers)

Click on link to read article on publication.