Playing positive football is the keyt o containing Nemo, say top caoches

THE INGREDIENTS are there for all to see. Anyone in Cork can pontificate on what makes Nemo Rangers special; stopping them is another day’s work.

No one in Cork or Munster has managed that in three years, leaving the Capwell club on the verge of an

historic three county senior football titles in a row.

Their only defeats over the same period have been to Crossmolina in the 2000 All-Ireland club final and again in last year's decider in Thurles at the hands of Ballinderry.

Both All-Ireland defeats still rankle with Nemo, more so because on each occasion the Cork champions looked to have the titles won, only to get caught on the run in.

Everything appeared to be going according to play against Crossmolina until Kieran McDonald decided to take a hand in the proceedings in the second half.

Recalls Cross coach Tomás Jordan: "We had no pre-conceived plan to beat Nemo that day. I knew they had a very experienced team with a number of inter-county players, but so had we. We were even on that score at least. Having come in at half time a well beaten side, I asked the players did they want to be remembered as the team which failed in an All-Ireland final.

"We hadn't played at all in the first half, but they gave me my answer in the second half. There was no real

secret to how we beat them. Perhaps they felt they had it won after running us off the field in the first half but as you know games are over 60 minutes plus.

"If there is one ingredient needed to beat a team of Nemo's calibre is to have a strong pool of players with at least 20 of them capable of being on the first 15. You also need a slice of good luck. No game is won without it.

"Having inter-county experience is an added bonus. With five of their players on the Cork team this year, that's invaluable, but from my limited knowledge of them, they have been backboning Cork teams over the years, which helps the club team enormously.

"No, there is no special formula to how to beat Nemo. Belief in your own team's ability is a help, but the best way is to have a panel of players better than theirs, and then play to your potential against them."

All-Ireland champions Ballinderry are another to lower Nemo's colours in recent years. Last year they beat the Cork champions in a rousing final in Thurles, and according to team coach Brian McKeever, did so without being negative.

"We went to down to Nenagh to watch Nemo play Charlestown in the semi-final and came away thinking if we could hold Colin Corkery he scored all Nemo's nine points that day and Joe Kavanagh, we'd be in with a great chance of winning.

"However in the lead up to the final we changed our approach. There was no point to plug this gap and that gap. Instead we decided to be positive, take the game to Nemo from the throw in and hope the breaks would go our way.

"And that's how it panned out. If you remember we took a grip on the game in the second half and went four points in front, but Nemo pegged it back to a point before we got the vital break.

"One of their backs lost possession coming out and we had the ball in their net in an instant. Had they drawn level there is no knowing how the game would have finished.

"We didn't want to go to Thurles to play negative football. We made a conscious decision to be positive in everything we did on the field and it worked for us.

"Without knowing anything about Nemo's opponents on Sunday, my advice would be to go out in a positive frame of mind, and have a go at them.

"We had a very young side who had no fear of Nemo despite their reputation and they went for it right from the throw-in. We could so easily have gone the other way and man marked Colin Corkery in the hope of preventing him from scoring.

"That to my mind would have shown we had no confidence in our players and would have been bad for team morale. I reckoned if we played enough football we'd trouble Nemo and that's the way it turned out.

"It was our first final, it's Bishopstown's first final. We were a young side like Bishopstown are. What's a team going to gain by going to stamp on Colin Corkery and Joe Kavanagh's toes. You have to go out and win the game."

Nemo are unlikely to make any changes from the team which started against St Finbarr's for Sunday's final, while the 'Town may opt to start Brian Healy on this occasion. He did well when introduced against UCC in the semi-final.