Hurleys to fore as Castlehaven beat Nemo win Cork football crown

Castlehaven 0-11 Nemo Rangers 0-09

Late scores from Michael and Brian Hurley were the difference as Castlehaven defeated defending champions Nemo Rangers 0-11 to 0-09 in the final of the Bon Secours Hospital Premier Senior Football Championship at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The Haven had to do it the hard way as they had to find a way to answer the great conundrum of Cork football – how to stop Nemo in a county final.

The club did it before in 2013 – but this was a new generation that had just three starters from their 0-16 to 1-11 victory a decade ago.

Castlehaven set out to repeat that achievement by dominating possession and that led to Michael and Brian Hurley kicking over two points inside five minutes.

This wasn't the solution – rather the end product of a gameplan that started at the back. The sextet were led by Damien Cahalane and together they reduced Nemo to just one shot inside the opening 15 minutes.

As is the way with the most successful club side in Ireland, Nemo evolved and tied the game up through scores from Luke Connolly and Jack Horgan.

Their brace turned the final into a straight shoot-out and Barry O’Driscoll and Mark Cronin were the next players in black and green to find the target.

Their contribution cancelled out points from Michael Hurley and Sean Browne and it made the scoreboard read 0-04 apiece at the break.

A Connolly point after the restart put Nemo into the lead for the first time and a Brian Hurley free immediately tied things up. Mark Cronin then restored his club’s advantage and once again Castlehaven replied through a Brian Hurley free.

All of this happened in just four minutes and the explosive change in the game’s pace meant very little as it went back to being a drawn final between two teams