Nemo Rangers Survive Fermoy Comeback in PIFC Clash

Nemo Rangers 4-13, Fermoy 3-10: City side survive second-half storm in Glenville

For 30 minutes in Glenville, this McCarthy Insurance PIFC tie looked like a non-contest. By the end, Nemo Rangers were hanging on to a scoreline that barely resembled the demolition job they had produced before the break.

They still won it – 4-13 to 3-10 – but Fermoy walked off the field with a very different feeling to the one they carried into the dressing room at half-time.

Nemo ruthless from the off

Nemo tore into Fermoy from the throw-in and had the first of their three first-half goals inside two minutes. Dylan O’Connor slipped Callum O’Neill through and the finish was clinical. From the restart, Dave Calnan swung over a point. Fermoy hadn’t settled; Nemo were already in full flow.

By the fourth minute, the ball was in the Fermoy net again. Dara O’Sullivan finished the move, and the Trabeg club were 2-1 to no score ahead, dictating everything.

Fermoy finally got moving a minute later. Shane Aherne opened their account, with David Lardner tagging on a free, but those scores did nothing to stem the tide.

Nemo answered with points from Jack Coogan and Jack Horgan. They were winning breaks, pinning Fermoy in, and when a defensive error coughed up a loose restart in the 10th minute, they punished it ruthlessly. Conor O’Donovan pounced and fed O’Sullivan for his second goal. 3-3 to 0-2 and Fermoy in deep trouble.

Martin Brennan clipped over Fermoy’s third point after 14 minutes. It would be their last score of the half.

Nemo kept coming. O’Neill added another point, and only a sharp save from Dale Dawson denied Horgan a fourth goal. O’Sullivan stretched the margin further before O’Donovan chipped in with two on the spin. The city side were cruising, and they hadn’t finished yet.

Then came a rare sight: Nemo goalkeeper Donagh O’Leary stepping up to nail a two-point free with five minutes left in the half. Matthew Keenan added a point, and O’Leary repeated the trick with another two-pointer before the whistle.

At the break, it read 3-12 to 0-3. Game over, or so it seemed.

Fermoy rip up the script

Fermoy came back out a different team and with a different shape. Tomás Clancy pushed higher up the pitch. Shane Aherne drifted out around the middle and started winning ball. Arlen Aherne arrived from the bench at half-time and immediately injected life into their attack.

He opened the second-half scoring, but Nemo looked to have slammed the door shut again almost instantly. Coogan struck for Nemo’s fourth goal, and O’Sullivan added a point in the 37th minute. That made it 4-13 on the board for the favourites – and, remarkably, it would be their final score of the night.

From there, the game flipped.

Fermoy finally found the bite and belief they had lacked in the first half. Lardner crashed home a goal to ignite the comeback, then added a point and another goal in quick succession. After 42 minutes it was 4-13 to 2-6, and suddenly there was a contest.

Shane Aherne and Brennan chipped over further points as Fermoy flooded forward. Fionn Lardner then landed a two-pointer to crank up the pressure even more. Nemo, so fluent earlier, were now struggling to get out.

The last act belonged to Arlen Aherne. With the final touch of the game, he rattled in Fermoy’s third goal. The whistle followed, leaving the North Cork side staring at the scoreboard and wondering what might have happened had they played with that intensity from the start.

Scorers

• Nemo Rangers: D O’Sullivan 2-2 (2f), C O’Neill 1-1, J Coogan 1-1, D O’Leary 0-4 (2 two-point frees), C O’Donovan 0-2, D Calnan, J Horgan, M Keenan 0-1 each.
• Fermoy: D Lardner 2-2 (2f), A Aherne 1-2, S Aherne, M Brennan, F Lardner (one two-pointer) 0-2 each.

Teams

• Nemo Rangers: D O’Leary; C Molloy, C Coughlan, A Cronin; C O’Neill, E Nation, D Coughlan; E Kelly, D Calnan; O White, D O’Connor, J Horgan; D O’Sullivan, C O’Donovan, J Coogan. Subs: M Keenan for J Horgan (16, inj), C Yellend for C O’Neill (46), P Kerrigan for J Coogan (50), S O’Dwyer for A Cronin (54).
• Fermoy: D Dawson; J Molloy, B Daly, P O’Neill; F Lardner, T Clancy, M Brennan; P Murphy, J O’Brien; D Daly, G O’Callaghan, E Healy; B Twomey, S Ahern, D Lardner. Subs: A Aherne for B Daly (ht), C Fitzpatrick for E Healy (46).

Referee: Brian Crowley (Castlehaven).