Mauling but no shame for Monaleen
Having knocked loudly on the door in recent years, they finally made the breakthrough in Limerick this year, then went on to record two hard earned and very creditable wins in the Munster club series, against Stradbally and Clonmel Commercials, champions of Waterford and Tipp.
Yesterday, as their inter-county midfieldfer Brian Geary explained, they simply came up against the kings, the club with the most outstanding record in this toughest of all GAA competitions, in any province, hurling or football. “We knew they were going to be good, but God we didn’t think they were going to take us apart like that,” he sighed, with a wry shake of the head, Nemo captain Colin Corkery in the middle of his acceptance speech in the background.
“We started brightly enough, got a few balls forward, and maybe if our forwards had managed to hold onto them we needed a few early scores to settle us, didn’t get them. Before we knew it they were 1 3, 1-4 ahead, then got a few more goals. Mistakes on our part as well, but at half time we knew we had a mountain to climb, it was just a question at that stage of trying to keep the score down.”
In an effort to stem the rising tide in the second half, Monaleen moved the giant Geary to centre back. Six minutes later, Nemo took off their centre forward John Paul O’Neill, and testament to their strength, introduced Steven O’Brien, one of the most decorated players in Cork football.
“Yeah, when you’re at centre back and that happens, you just lift your eyes to heaven again. But, after a hard few years, this has been a great season for us, and it was good reward for our supporters that we got to Killarney today for a Munster final (credit to them too, colourful and in huge numbers, they never deserted their team, stayed to the bitter end). A pity we didn’t do better, but Nemo were on fire, fair play to them.”
Anyone who disagrees with that assessment must have very high standards indeed. In a tough footballing county, winning your own senior title in any season is a major achievement, winning it in three successive years even more so, but adding the provincial crown on each occasion is unprecedented in Munster, until yesterday. “It’s a historic day, because no team has done three-in- a-row in Munster before,” said a satisfied Colin Corkery; “it’s nice to set that record. Hopefully we can go on now and finish a job we’ve been trying to do for the last few years.”
That’s a reference to successive defeats in two All-Ireland finals, heart breaking for most other clubs, but strengthens the resolve of Nemo Rangers. Stronger also, Corkery reckons, is this current panel. “That’s a testament to everybody, they’re training hard, fighting for places, we’re all kept on our toes, trying to keep them out as well as we can.”
One of those struggling to get in, being stymied by injury, is the evergreen and black Steven O’Brien. Two All-Ireland senior medals with Cork, three Allstar awards, one of the few on this squad with a club championship already under his belt, he is still as keen and as hungry as ever, evidenced in a hard working display following his introduction. Mind you, by then, as Stephen himself admitted, it was already all over. “I thought it would be tougher, but we got out of the blocks quicker, and that made a difference. 1-5 after the first fifteen minutes, that’s all we wanted, and they were always going to struggle after that. We kept it going then, finished it off, where in the last few games we took our foot off the pedal.”
A feature of the Nemo Rangers gameis the support play, wing backs going forward, wing forwards dropping back, and all to good effect. “That’s a big part of our game, the work ethic, everybody chases, no one given any special privileges”, coach Billy Morgan explained. “Everyone is expected to do it.”
None does it more effectively than man of the match Alan Cronin. Nominally wing forward, he covers the whole pitch, north/south/east/west, and in fact his goal, (Nemo’s first), made by full back Niall Geary when he continued his run out of defence, all the way to the opposition goal area, typifies the Nemo game.
“Niall got a break, I kind of followed him up, did a one/two with him, and next thing I was in front of the goal, had a shot and it went in. I was happy enough with it I suppose, then Colin got his goals, and that put us on our way. A lot of our support play however, relates to the breaks at midfield if we can get on top there, there’s always someone coming from the half back line, supporting us on the break. It’s easier for the forwards to do well then.”
Easy? There’s nothing easy at this level. Nemo Rangers just have the knack of making it look so.
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