Our second team had ousted championship favourites Ballinure in the opening round of their competition, before defeating Passage in the second round. This set them up for a quarter-final tussle with more south-side opposition, this time Nemo Rangers. The Capwell side had ended our team’s championship aspirations in 2004, when they beat us after a replay.
Thus our lads were keen for revenge, in this clash at the splendid Mayfield grounds. Both sides started tentatively and Nemo, assisted by the wind, were quicker on the offensive. However our full-back line soaked up the pressure well. Minus the services of normal full-back and captain Robert O Brien through injury, as well as his replacement Barry Linehan who was suspended, Padraig Murnane was given the number three shirt for the occasion, rather than his usual number two. Padraig, along with Sean Gorman and Victor O Sullivan won ball-after-ball and delivered off cleverly to their half-backs, where brothers Jason and Donal Kelly particularly impressed.
When our first score finally came after 19 minutes it was a big blow to the Nemo lads, as it put us in a two point lead after all their early dominance. It was a great goal from corner-forward Colin Lawless, who barraged his way in along the end-line and buried the ball in off the cross-bar. This had the desired effect for our lads and the mazy runs of Edwin Buckley caused panic in the Nemo defence and he scored a second goal for the Cross as well as a fine point. Pat Hennessy and Kevin Buckley tacked on further points to give White’s Cross a 2-3 to 0-2 half-time lead.
White’s Cross continued their dominance into the second half with Buckley bursting through for a second goal and Hennessy also raising a green flag. Hennessy also scored a magnificent score from a side-line kick thirty five yards out the field. Substitute Bryan O Sullivan compounded a miserable night for Nemo by adding a further 1-1 to the score-line as White’s Cross won out in most convincing fashion.
This sets us up for a championship semi-final clash with Ballyphehane, while Brian Dillons and Lough Rovers clash in the other semi-final. The strength in depth of this panel will be truly tested in this semi-final, as four of the team involved in the Nemo victory have since played A championship, making them ineligible for the remainder of this competition.