Munster SFC Final Nemo Rangers 2-12 St Senan's, Killkee 1-6For a brief few opening minutes, yesterday's AIB Munster club football final appeared to be teetering on the brink of a contest. St Senan's were robust and enthusiastic and the Nemo juggernaut was discomfited and struggling.
But in the end expectations were met and a wonderful shooting performance from James Masters - 1-5 from play - proved the sharp edge of Nemo's supremacy and their alert, relentless support play created the opportunities.
It's a sound rule in any match that if a team squanders decent opportunites, there's a good chance of them becoming a matter of regret before the final whistle sounds. But for a final with such starkly defined favourites and outsiders, a team like St Senan's need to land their punches when the chances arise.
In the second minute Michael O'Shea got up to break down a ball for Ger Keane whose attempt to steer the ball into an empty net ran across the face of the goal and wide. Undaunted, Barry Harte put the Clare champions ahead but the match was in an unrepresentative phase.
Mickey Niblock caught and kicked a snap chance at the other end but the shot flew wide. The mayhem continued with Derek de Loughrey winning a high ball on goal and also flashing it wide. This phase, well within the first 10 minutes, was the Kilkee club's chance.
St Senan's coach, the distinguished former player Noel Roche, acknowledged the missed opportunities but was realistic about the implications. "We'd good chances and if one of those had gone in it would have kept us in the game a bit longer and the longer you're in the game the more confident you develop. I'm not saying we'd have beaten them but if we were able to put more pressure on them halfway through the second half it could have been there for the taking but look, Nemo are a crack outfit. They'll probably go on from here and contest an All-Ireland final."
Once the Cork side got into their rhythm Senan's were under pressure. Holding their positions more coherently Nemo worked the ball through neat, short, handwork combined with penetrating foot passes to set their forwards loose. Having sniped four points to lead by three, Nemo struck for their first goal. In the 17th minute Seán O'Brien held the ball up well before releasing Paul Kerrigan into space and he slotted the ball off the ground into the net.
Then six minutes later the match was dead. Masters was bottled up on the goal line but a slick one-two reopened the space and the corner forward planted the ball past Derek Garvey for a 2-4 to 0-1 lead. Masters might have added a second just on half-time but, having cleverly turned his marker, his shot was well saved by the St Senan's goalkeeper.
No matter. A half-time lead of 2-6 to 0-2 was bullet proof. There were, however, a few lumps shot off it on the restart.
"We spoke at half-time about not conceding goals," said Nemo manager Ephie Fitzgerald, "and 30 seconds later they were back in it. But once the first 10 minutes were gone we settled down again and were able to pick off our scores. We moved Seán O'Brien back to play in front of Garry Murphy because that young fella (Gearóid Lynch) is quite a good player and I think he has a bright future."
That's a fair precis of the second half. The youngster in question was replacement Lynch who pounced on a Denis Russell ball and finished coolly. Three minutes later Harte added a second point and the margin was six, 2-6 to 1-3. That was the end of the revival, however. The gap never got smaller. Nemo's attack was always able to work productive patterns between Masters, Niblock and William Morgan.
O'Brien's withdrawal to a deep position shored up the defence and everyone in the crowd of just 4,000 knew that St Senan's wouldn't have the firepower to blitz a way back into the match.
The winners' 13th Munster title came within a day of the club adding the county minor title to their senior and under-21 successes in Cork. Man of the match Masters contemplated the remarkable heritage that he now upholds.
"Nemo is family based. There's no stars. Everyone just plays to get on the team. Look at someone like Joe Kavanagh. He'd be a shoo-in in every team, maybe even a county team but there's young lads coming up - we won the county minor yesterday. We don't have that big a club. We've a lot less members than loads of the other city clubs. We train hard and the discipline is good and we've come through in the end."
Surprise Ulster champions St Gall's from Antrim await in February's All-Ireland semi-final.
NEMO RANGERS: B Morgan; N Geary, G Murphy, G O'Shea; C O'Shea, B O'Regan, M Daly; M Cronin (0-1), M McCarthy; D Niblock (0-3), S O'Brien, A Cronin; J Masters (1-5), P Kerrigan (1-1), W Morgan (0-1). Subs: N O'Sullivan for Geary (45 mins), D Mehigan for A Cronin (45 mins), J Kavanagh for Kerrigan (55 mins), A Morgan (0-1) for W Morgan (59 mins), M Kearney for M Cronin (59 mins).
ST SENAN'S: D Garvey; M Galvin, D Kelly, G Crotty; C Kirwin, David Russell, T Galvin; D de Loughrey, K Larkin; Denis Russell (0-1), B Harte (0-2), J Larkin; G Keane, M O'Shea (0-2, both frees), N O'Shea. Subs: G Lynch (1-1) for J Larkin (28 mins), S Larkin for de Loughrey (half-time), J Enright for Harte (46 mins), M Keane for G Keane (46 mins), B Smith for T Galvin (57 mins).
Referee: P Sheehy (Kerry).
