Hurley brothers on song as Castlehaven claim first Cork county title in 10 years
KINGS OF THE CASTLE: Castlehaven captain Mark Collins and teammates celebrate with the Andy Scannell Cup. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The first team to take Nemo Rangers for 11 scores this championship were rewarded with the Andy Scannell Cup.
A fitting prize for Castlehaven for managing a feat that had proven beyond every other team in the county.
In this season of Nemo stifling and Nemo shutouts, the back-to-back chasing citymen came up just short in attempting to suffocate the life out of their final opponents.
Midfielder Barry Cripps edged Nemo into a 0-9 to 0-8 lead with two and a half minutes remaining in regulation time. The plan from here would be to manage and protect. The Hurley brothers, though, could not be managed. The lead could not be protected.
A perfectly executed Brian Hurley mark shortly after tied this uninspiring Cork football final for the eighth time.
A minute into injury-time, Hurley, from the hand, nailed a free from just outside the 45-metre line to put the Haven in front. It was the first time they had led since the 27th minute.
Nemo desperately chased an equaliser. Castlehaven turned the smother defence on their opponents. A dose of their own medicine.
A turnover. Castlehaven’s break ended with Michael Hurley kicking his fifth point from play. The Hurley siblings contributed all bar one white flag of their 0-11 total.
A first county for Castlehaven in 10 years and sixth in total. Manager James McCarthy, 20 years after masterminding his first Castlehaven county, is now responsible for managing half the club's Andy Scannell haul.
For Nemo, a rare county final defeat. In this the club’s 28th county final appearance, the two-point loss represented just a fifth county final defeat.
The opening half had finished with Castlehaven carrying possession along the 45-metre line. It was a perfect metaphor for the opening half. The Haven in control of the ball but not being allowed to go anywhere with it.
It was this 45-metre line that the Haven had gone back and forth across for most of the opening half. Shunting them out beyond the scoring zone was a Nemo rearguard effort that included every man, woman, and child in black and green bar Luke Connolly.
Connolly was their outlet when they squeezed the last drop of patience out of their opponents and forced either a turnover or forced an inadvisable shot from distance.
Castlehaven met more cul de sacs than they’d expect to find down their neck of the West Cork woods.
The Haven finished with six first half wides. The pair from Mark Collins and Damien Cahalane along the well-trodden 45 were prime examples of such inadvisable kicks.
Nemo’s approach, not that they cared in the slightest, contributed to a grind of an opening half hour. Endured, rather than enjoyed. An interval scoreline of 0-4 apiece said as much.
The opening 20 minutes provided three scores. This trio of white flags - Michael and Brian Hurley on target for the Haven, Luke on the mark for Nemo - arrived in the opening eight and a half minutes. It meant a third of the half passed without any flag at all.
The Castlehaven defence was every bit as stout as the well-populated walls down the City End. Connolly was on one instance dispossessed by the double-team efforts of Ronan Walsh and Cathal Maguire.
Jack Horgan and Barry O’Driscoll points either side of a Michael Hurley effort around the 20 and 21st minute mark tied them at 0-3 apiece. Stalemate was still the order of the day when referee Pa O’Driscoll temporarily released us from the grind at 3.31pm.
Luke kicked Nemo in front for the first time 45 seconds upon the restart. They would lead on five separate occasions in the second half. But they never led by more than two. Containment almost seemed more of a priority than cutting open their opposition.
Castlehaven were not be contained. Ten years of waiting put behind them. The West re-awoken and rulers once more.
B Hurley (0-3 frees, 0-1 mark), M Hurley (0-5 each); S Browne (0-1).
M Cronin (0-3, 0-3 frees), L Connolly (0-3, 0-1 free); B Cripps, B O’Driscoll, J Horgan (0-1 each).
Darragh Cahalane; R Walsh, Damien Cahalane, J O’Regan; T O’Mahony, R Maguire, C Maguire; M Collins, C Cahalane; A Whelton, J O’Neill, S Browne; J Cahalane. B Hurley, M Hurley.
C O’Driscoll for Browne (46); R Minihane for Whelton (49); J O’Driscoll for O’Neill (56); C O’Sullivan for O’Mahony (60).
MA Martin; K Histon, B Murphy, K O’Donovan; C Molloy, K Fulignati, S Cronin; B Cripps, A O’Donovan; C Horgan, M Cronin, L Horgan; J Horgan, B O’Driscoll, L Connolly.
P Kerrigan for L Horgan (45); R Dalton for O’Driscoll (46); G Sayers for Molloy (49); C Kiely for C Horgan (56).
P O’Driscoll.
