Nemo Rangers captain Luke Connolly couldn’t hide his emotions as they claimed victory over St Finbarr's in Cork Senior Football Championship final.
In a game that Nemo Rangers were always in control of, Luke Connolly was the star of the show as he scored eight points in 1-16 to 2-9 victory.
It was a special occasion for Nemo Rangers, who won the title a century after the club was founded, and 50 years after they first put their name on the Andy Scannell Cup.
For their captain and one of their many hero’s on the day Luke Connolly, the added significance of yesterday’s final made the victory all that more special.
30 October 2022; Nemo Rangers captain Luke Connolly lifting the cup after the Cork County Senior Club Football Championship Final match between Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr's at Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
"I fell apart at the full-time whistle when I found my parents. It’s special. When I was made captain this year, centenary year, I probably buried it in my mind but as it got closer. It’s probably the first time I was nervous going into a game.
“I don’t want to sound arrogant but that’s what Nemo teams are reared on, getting to county finals and peaking at the right time of the year. Counties aren’t won in April, they’re won at this time of the year in October.”
Despite Nemo Rangers winning their fifth title in eight seasons, and this exact squad lifting the title 14 months earlier, there was some doubts surrounding the squad coming into Sunday’s final.
A narrow one-point victory over Carbery Rangers in the quarter finals was followed by a a more comfortable ten point victory over Ballincollig in the semi-final.
30 October 2022; Nemo Rangers players celebrate with the cup after the Cork County Senior Club Football Championship Final match between Nemo Rangers and St Finbarr's at Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
After overcoming St Finbarr’s in yesterday’s entertaining final, Connolly was happy to show up the doubters outside of the club.
“We were criticized coming into it. I think this group was a bit disrespected to be perfectly honest. This was three counties in four years, and I felt coming into this game we were almost a team in our first county final, the way we were being spoken about. I think a lot of people wrote us off based on a quarter final.
Somebody asked me during the week were ye unconvincing? I’ll add it to the list of unconvincing counties I have at this stage. I don’t mean to be facetious but look I’ve heard that said about us several times.
It’s about days like today and performing. That first half was probably a culmination of six months of work.”
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