Nemo Rangers 1-14 Stradbally 0-10: Nemo Rangers cruised into the Munster club football final with a convincing win over Waterford champions Stradbally at a near-deserted Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday.
The game was a personal triumph for youngster Paul Kerrigan, who finished with 1-5 on his return from suspension, his goal coming eight minutes from the break after Martin Cronin and Seán O'Brien combined.
That goal helped Nemo to a 1-9 to 0-4 interval advantage and it was already out of reach for a Stradbally side that relied too much on their free-taker Niall Curran, though they did finish strongly to make the scoreline somewhat respectable.
The Cork champions dominated practically every sector, notably in their half-forward line, where Kerrigan was well assisted by David Niblock and O'Brien, who regularly tore Stradbally apart.
Basic mistakes contributed to Stradbally's downfall. Three times inside five minutes they needlessly lost possession and Kerrigan, Niblock and James Masters punished them with points to leave the Cork side leading by 0-6 to 0-1 after 16 minutes.
Stradbally's Michael Walsh battled hard at midfield, but their only scoring threat was Curran, who kicked all four first-half points from frees.
The second half offered little more than going through the motions. Nemo kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely with points from a Masters free, Niblock, Kerrigan and substitute Michael Kearney to lead by 1-13 to 0-4 at the end of the third quarter.
Nemo took their foot off the accelerator after that and Stradbally pushed hard for respectability, dominating the final quarter, sparked by their first point from play from midfielder John Hearne in the 46th minute.
Curran kicked five points in a row - including one excellent effort from play - and Stradbally were back within six points as the game drifted into injury time.
Fittingly, Kerrigan would have the final word, knocking over the final point of the game with virtually the last kick.
NEMO RANGERS: B Morgan; M Daly, G Murphy, G O'Shea; C O'Shea, B O'Regan, N O'Sullivan; M Cronin, M McCarthy; D Niblock (0-2), S O'Brien (0-1), P Kerrigan (1-5, one free); W Morgan, A Cronin (0-1), J Masters (0-4, two frees). Subs: M Kearney (0-1) for Masters, J Kavanagh for W Morgan (both 42 mins), S Twomey for O'Shea (47 mins), P Brophy for O'Regan (48 mins), D Mehigan for McCarthy (50 mins).
STRADBALLY: E Cunningham; D Doyle, K Coffey, O Costelloe; S Lannon, T Costelloe, T Grey; M Walsh, J Hearne (0-1); T Curran, G Power, S Cunningham; N Curran (0-9, eight frees), G Walsh, P Weldon. Subs: J Halpin for D Doyle, S Lawlor for T Curran (both 47 mins).
Referee: M Meade (Limerick).
