Fortune finally smiles on Nemo

FINALLY, it was their day. And after a three-year journey, this was certainly a success worth waiting for.

With a moment of quick thinking and one swipe from his personalised boots, Colin Corkery swept away two years of Nemo disappointment.

His point, a massive 50-yard effort as the game was drawing to a close, allowed Nemo Rangers to believe that fate was on their side. Finally.

By his own peerless standards, Corkery didn’t have a great day. Yet, when Nemo needed that extra touch of class, it was the captain who stepped forward and took the responsibility. Just the sort of player he is.

“I didn’t think about those two chances I missed before the kick. I don’t let things like that bother me, because if you think like that, you will end up not going for anything.

"And you can’t do that out there, not with the pressure involved.”

He feels, given the occasion and the time on the clock, that it was the best point of his career. And there are quite a few gems in his back catalogue.

He even considered going for a point from the free, all of 60 yards out, but instead played a neat one-two with Maurice McCarthy. “I was thinking about kicking it all the way, but Billy said no way, it’s too far out.For once, I listened to him.”

Apart from everything else, the kick ensured Corkery became the top scorer in the club championship. Fitting, really.

There was so much more to this victory, though. Who loses their full-back and centre-back in an All-Ireland final and finds the resolve to come back and win?

“Losing players like Niall and Martin, who are so influential for us, that knocked the team back a bit. And it was hard for us at times after that,” Corkery said.

"But we stuck in there in the second half, and with about 15 minutes to go, I felt we were going to do it this time.”

However, things are always different on the sideline. It can be a very lonely place. Billy Morgan must have felt on his own for a while yesterday, watching his two defensive rocks leave the field, watching goal chance after goal chance go a-begging.

After two bitter blows, it can take a long time before you feel it is your day.

“Things went a bit pear-shaped after losing two of our most influential players. And they got away from us. Two years ago, it was similar.

"We had our chances and we didn’t take them, their goalie made two great saves that day too. After we managed to get back level near the end, we missed two good chances and I thought it is not going to be our day again,” Morgan recalled.

“But there is no better man than Colin to have the ball in his hands at that moment for that score. He wasn’t having a particularly good day, but that is the thing about Colin. He doesn’t shirk from responsibility. He is able to pick out scores like that at any time.”

That was when Morgan started believing, although all week he let everyone else talk about losing three successive finals and kept his mind on the target it hasn’t left since leaving Croke Park last St Patrick’s Day.

“All that talk about losing three finals in a row, that was media talk mostly. All I was concerned about was the game. I was in the similar situation 15 years ago with Cork. I didn’t let it bother me then and I didn’t let it bother me out there.”

Steven O’Brien watched the last ten minutes of drama unfold from the sideline. Pacing anxiously, O’Brien’s body language mirrored Nemo’s anxiety.

“It is far worse on the line, especially the way the last few minutes went. Because the game was close, it could have gone either way and we missed a few chances which was kind of galling. I think relief is just the right word.

“The only pressure we were under was our own pressures within the team. But we showed we could handle that. We scored the last four points of the game I think, which shows the composure the team had in the end.”

One of the veterans of the side, O’Brien went through a renaissance this year as a centre-forward. Despite all the achievements and accolades he has received, he feels this success is very special.

“This probably ranks as the highest,” he believes. “What made this so special is to come back after a couple of disappointments.

"When you work with a group of players and lose with a group of players, that creates a real bond within the team. Losing an All-Ireland final is a terrible feeling and you want to come back here and win it with the same group of players. And we have managed that.”

Their day, at last. After nine years of taking in places like south Armagh and Killorglin, the Andy Merrigan Cup is back in the placewhere it must consider home.

In the Nemo Rangers clubhouse, they won’t shiver when they talk of St Patrick’s Day anymore.