Corkery is a class apart

Nemo Rangers ... 0-15 Bishopstown ... 1-7 Colin Corkery inspired Nemo Rangers to a historic three-in-a-row of Cork senior football championship titles with a man-of-the-match display against newcomers Bishopstown at Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday.

The powerful full forward captivated a crowd of over 14,500 with some magical shooting, finishing with 0-11 of his side's total, to play a captain's role in the club's record 13th success, one more than the defunct Lees.

Bishopstown threatened to cause a shock by leading 1-5 to 0-6 at the interval after Nemo had swept into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead by the 18th minute. Corner forwards James O'Shea and Johnny Crowley caused Nemo a lot of bother and, fittingly, it was a well-taken goal by O'Shea after 25 minutes which lifted their prospects.

But Nemo, quoted 1 to 6 to retain their crown, had other ideas and dominated almost the whole of the second half, restricting their opponents to just two points. Coach Billy Morgan tightened the defence at the interval by switching Cork player Martin Cronin to centre back and introducing Sean O'Brien to do a policing job on the dangerous O'Shea.

Both moves worked a treat as Cronin shored up the middle with the result that neither O'Shea nor Kerry's Crowley saw much of the ball in the second-half.

The signs were not good for Bishopstown as early as the second minute after the resumption, when goalkeeper Mick Galvin had to spread himself well to deny Corkery a certain goal. He turned the ball outside for a 45, which Corkery duly converted.

Within four minutes Corkery restored equality with a score off his left boot and further points from the Kavanagh brothers, Joe and Derek, made it 0-10 to 1-5 after 40 minutes. Crowley, finally, got Bishopstown's first score of the half entering the final quarter, but it was only a temporary reprieve as Nemo continued to dominate.

Corkery claimed the next five points, including a gem with his left foot from an acute angle in the right corner after 50 minutes, to finish the game as a contest.

Bishopstown had the last word with an O'Shea point on the call of full-time, but the cup was staying with Nemo for another season by that stage.

NEMO RANGERS: D Heaphy; L Kavanagh, N Geary, B O'Regan; G Murphy, M Daly, M Cronin; K Cahill (0-1), D Kavanagh (0-1); M McCarthy, S O'Brien, A Cronin (0-1); J Kavanagh (0-1), C Corkery (0-11), A Morgan. Subs. S O'Brien for Daly, J P O'Neill for S O'Brien, W Morgan for A Morgan, L O'Sullivan for J Kavanagh, D Mehigan for McCarthy.

BISHOPSTOWN: M Galvin; M Kilgallon, B McCarthy, N O'Donovan; M Hayes, S Murphy, B Hussey; L Honohan, B Cuthbert; B Healy, (0-1), R Honohan (0-1), J Murphy; J Crowley (0-1), J Honohan, J O'Shea (1-4). Subs: M Cogan for Healy, D Murphy for Hussey, D O'Mahony for J Honohan.

Referee: M Collins (Cork)