Nallen again so very cautious

MAYO'S James Nallen was his usual cautious self yesterday as he reflected on the weekend championship date with Cork.

“There is only one title at stake now and you have to be able to beat whoever is left,” said Nallen. “Your preparation has to be focussed on your own game. With Cork you know you’re going to get a good, footballing side. They’re fast, talented, they’ve a strong panel but they can be inconsistent. I’d also think of the drubbing we got in 1993, the U-21 Final in 1994 and, of course, the semi-final in 1999.”

Nallen also disagreed with the perception that Cork are a one-man team, rotating around the cultured feet of one Colin Corkery.

“He [Corkery] is a very significant player and he’s been integral to their success,” he admits. “It’ll be imperative not to give away silly frees. But any team that has got this far hasn’t relied on one man.

“Fionán Murray is very sharp, Brendan Ger O’Sullivan is strong and a hard worker, they’re big at midfield and their defence works hard. They also have guys to bring on who will make the difference on the big days. There are no easy draws at this stage but you can’t worry about the other teams. You have to maximise your own position.”

The Crossmolina club man believes that the Championship now begins in earnest. The backdoor route has been negotiated and the playing field is now a level one. Motivation is not a problem. “It’s probably easier to get excited about Cork all right,” he concurs.

“That’s no disrespect to either Limerick or Tipperary but Cork have such a huge tradition that you know you’ll have to be at your absolute best to beat them. Playing at Croke Park gives every footballer a great chance to express themselves too. If you can’t play there you can’t play anywhere.”

Nallen’s level of caution was shared by Cork manager Larry Tompkins, a central figure in the Rebels’ Croker defeat of Mayo in 1989 before going onto captain the side to the double against Meath in 1990.

“Mayo have always been able to produce strong teams but this year they are getting the scores and maybe that is the big difference,” he said.

“They were very unlucky not to beat Galway in the Connacht championship. There was not a lot in it that day and they were impressive and they have been very impressive ever since. No one could take a side like that lightly.”

In fact he was adamant that none of the eight teams through to the quarter finals could be taken lightly.

“The way games have been going it would be very difficult to say who will win the All-Ireland this year,” he said. “The whole thing is really very open and it is going to be a very difficult All-Ireland to try and win.

“The way I look at it now, we are in the last eight. From here on in it’s going to be dog eat dog. You need a lot of things to go your way. First of all you are going to need a strong panel. You need to have no injuries and you need to be fresh but, to my mind, luck is very important. You need that element of luck and, in fact, I think that is the most important thing.”