Nemo Rangers Hold Off Fermoy in Thrilling PIFC Clash

Nemo Rangers 4-13, Fermoy 3-10: City side survive furious late storm

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 nine-point win that felt far tighter than the scoreboard suggested.

At half-time, Nemo led by a scarcely believable 3-12 to 0-3. Fermoy had been outplayed, outmuscled, out-thought. Yet they walked off knowing they couldn’t possibly be that flat again. They weren’t.

Nemo ruthless from the throw-in

Nemo exploded out of the blocks. Two minutes gone and the first goal arrived: Dylan O’Connor slipped Callum O’Neill through, and O’Neill buried it. From the restart, Dave Calnan clipped over a point. Fermoy were already under siege.

By the fourth minute, the green flag was waving again. Dara O’Sullivan finished Nemo’s second goal as the Trabeg club surged 2-1 to no score in front.

Fermoy finally stirred when Shane Aherne opened their account, with David Lardner adding a free a minute later, but it did nothing to stem the tide. Nemo simply went up a gear.

Jack Coogan and Jack Horgan split the posts to reassert control, and then came the third body blow. On 10 minutes, a poor restart from the Fermoy defence was punished ruthlessly: Nemo turned it over, Conor O’Donovan fed O’Sullivan, and the corner-forward slammed home his second goal. 3-3 to 0-2 and Fermoy reeling.

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

From there, it was all Nemo. O’Neill tagged on another point. Horgan was denied a goal only by an excellent save from Dale Dawson, but the respite was brief. O’Sullivan kept the scoreboard ticking, and O’Donovan clipped over two in a row as the gap stretched and the contest threatened to drift out of sight.

Then Nemo’s goalkeeper joined the scoring spree. With five minutes to the break, Donagh O’Leary strode up to nail a two-point free. Matthew Keenan added a point, and O’Leary struck again from another two-point free to close out a devastating half: 3-12 to 0-3. Nemo rampant. Fermoy shell-shocked.

Changes spark Fermoy revival

Fermoy needed something drastic. They got it.

Tomás Clancy pushed higher up the pitch. Shane Aherne moved out towards the middle and began to get a grip on primary possession. Arlen Aherne came in at half-time and immediately injected energy and accuracy.

He opened the second-half scoring, hinting at a change in tone. Nemo answered sharply, though, with what looked like the killer blow: Coogan crashed in their fourth goal, and O’Sullivan added a point in the 37th minute. That, remarkably, would be Nemo’s final score of the night.

From there, Fermoy tore into it.

Lardner struck for their first goal to ignite the comeback. He followed with a point, then rattled in a second goal to cut the deficit to 4-13 to 2-6 by the 42nd minute. Suddenly, Nemo’s comfort had turned into concern.

Shane Aherne and Brennan knocked over points as Fermoy kept coming, and Fionn Lardner drilled a two-pointer to deepen the sense that Nemo were losing their grip on a game they had owned for so long.

The pressure refused to relent. Deep into the closing stages, with Nemo still unable to find a response, Fermoy struck again. With the final touch of the match, Arlen Aherne buried their third goal.

The whistle went almost on impact. Fermoy’s late surge had dragged the margin back to nine, 4-13 to 3-10, and left them walking off with a nagging thought: what if they had played the first half like they did the second?

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.

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).