JOHN COUGHLAN

Douglas 2-11
Nemo Rangers 1-5

FOR the uneducated GAA fans they will most likely look at this result and presume the Nemo Rangers football empire is collapsing.
On the other hand there is little doubt when you are eliminated from the Senior, Intermediate, Junior A and B football championships in the space of five days you are bound to have doubters.
Last night Nemo Rangers faced a very good Douglas side at Ballinlough in the Sportsturf Solutions Junior A football championship semi final and not surprisingly came out on the wrong end.
In reality this is the Douglas second string and having played only one Senior football championship game this season they are bound to have quality players at their disposal.
On the other side of the coin Douglas are going well in many grades and although they were tested in the opening quarter once they found their stride there was only going to be one winner.
Following a Johnny Farrell point in the 17th minute the floodgates opened three minutes later when Sean Collins finished with precision for the opening green flag.
Four minutes later poor defending allowed Collins in for his second goal and Douglas looked home and hosed at the interval when commanding an eight-point lead 2-5 to 0-3.
In typical Nemo style they bounced back four minutes into the restart when Paul Hogan took a pass from Greg Browne to drill the ball to the net from close range.
Conditions made life difficult for both sides but in truth Douglas never had to come out offirst gear and in the end ran out comfortable winners.
No doubt it will take a very good side to defeat this quality Douglas outfit that have all the right credentials to win this championship.
Scorers for Douglas: S Collins 2-1, J Farrell 0-5 (0-3f), J Davis (f), M O’Callaghan, G McLoughlin, C Collins, B Fitzgerald (0-1 each).
Nemo Rangers: P Hogan 1-1, J Philpott 0-2, G Browne, B Madden (0-1 each).
Douglas: DHanrahan; F Reen, D McSweeney, N Gannon; S O’Connor, N Heffernan, J Davis; J Lane, G McLoughlin; B Fitzgerald, M O’Callaghan, C Collins; E Mulrooney, J Farrell, S Collins.
Subs: P Clarke for E Mulrooney (h-t), B Cuthbert for M O’Callaghan (38), I Bermingham for S O’Connor (38), M Carroll for C Collins (47).
Nemo Rangers: B McNally; S Sheehan, P Cahill, D Barrett; D Kerins, G Irwin, D O’Keeffe; L O’Sullivan, M Hayes; P Horgan, S O’Callaghan, R Kenny; J Philpott, P Hogan, G Browne.
Subs: J Daly for G Irwin (h-t), D O’Mahony for P Horgan (45), N Weldon for D O’Keeffe (46), B Madden for S O’Callaghan (49), D O’Donovan for P Hogan (52).
Referee: C O Murchu (Brian Dillons).