'A' Hurlers Master Nemo

The A hurlers produced a magnificent brand of hurling that left Nemo in shock, monday last in Ballinlough.

A lot had been documented about this game in the past fortnight, as the Trabeg side refused to play the original fixture due to the involvement of James Masters with the cork football replay with Kerry.

Nemo appealled Seanduns decision to award the game to Dillon's,however they cannot appeal this result as Dillons gave a fantastic team performance to power past nemo into the third round.

Nemo were the quicker team out of the blocks with Morgan scoring after 30 seconds, while cillian brosnan was booked after a late challenge on morgan after he shot. Dillon's looked sluggish in this opening five minutes with Nemo sticking over two free's courtesy of Brian Twomey.

James Masters sparked into life in the seventh minute when he found some room to hit a sweet point from 70 yards as the dillon's team struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game and the tenacity of the Nemo team who were harrying and pressuring every Dillon's player in possesion.

Credit to the Dillon's mentors,they made the necessary switches that proved vital in their first-half revival.
John Horgan got the team up and running in the eigth-minute with a free and Tomas Lawrence was unlucky two minutes later when his shot from a tight angle on the left went narrowly wide.

The free taking of Brian Twomey kept Nemo in control after a brace of points from Horgan had brought Dillon's back into the game. However Nemo were shocked in the closing seven minutes firstly Cian McCarthy struck over three consecutive classy points, the third undoubtably the finest as it was squeezed over from a tight angle on the right sideline indside the Nemo 21.

Then Masters was denied a certain goal,after dissecting the Dillon's defence with a great run through the centre his last obstacle was John O'Herlihy in the Dillon's goal but he couldn't find a way passed the keeper. From the rebound the Nemo full forward struck the sliothar back goal wards only to see Derek MacDonnell clear off the line.

This undoubtably was a great boost to the Dillon's team,as Derek MacDonnell and the rest of the Dillon's defence smothered the Nemo forwards and gave them no easy shot's at goal. This stout defending was epitomised when in the dying moments O'Herlihy in the Dillon's stopped a Nemo point dropping over the bar instead batting it down to Boland for it to cleared up the pitch.

The sides went in at half time with Nemo leading 0-08 to 0-06 but the real scoring was just about to get under way. With just seven seconds on the clock Brosnan won the clash and sent a high ball in which deceived the Nemo keeper and ended up in the back of the net.It was the perfect start to the second half for Dillon's but after trading points it was Nemo who struck back hard after being bottled up by Barrett and Boland on 35 minutes Alan Cronin made room for himself after a great turn two minutes later and finished to the back of the net.

Dillon's needed a score and Tomas Lawerence and Horgan obliged with two fine points the latter came from a clever pass from James Horgan. Added to this an inspired performance at centre back from cork minor Darragh Rodgers who seemed to be making block after block on Nemo forwards,Dillon's seemed to have settled into this game even after Cronin's goal.

A further two points from McCarthy and Horgan edged Dillon's into a point lead,Nemo however to there credit struck back with a well worked move that exposed the Dillon's defence and ended with Cronin goaling again. Nemo came alive after this goal and a minute later the Nemo corner forward turned Boland and took off towards goal, with supporters fearing another goal and the corner forward just about to pull the trigger Boland got in a great hook and then hussled his man off the ball and cleared this is just what Dillon's needed.

From there Dillon's pushed on and after another clever handpass from James Horgan his brother John pointed again to leave just a point in it. A minute later Horgan dropped a ball in towards the square and again it deceived Corkery in the Nemo goal and ended up in the back of the net. Rodgers got the reward his outstanding display deserved from the puck out he won the ball and sent over a great point from 80 yards.

From here Dillon's finished strong with a brace of points from Horgan and a fantastic solo effort from Carey in the 61st minute to finish Nemo off on a scoreline of 2-17 to 2-12. Dillon's will be delighted with this performance but they will by no means rest on there laurels as they as well as there management team know they have only won a first round game and there will be more tough tasks ahead this summer, starting with Blackrock in the next round.