Coach continues but Nemo lose half-back trio for title defence

NEMO RANGERS must plan for the defence of this year’s Cork senior football championship title without the entire half-back line which lost to St Galls in Sunday’s All-Ireland Club semi-final.

Team coach Ephie Fitzgerald, who will continue in charge for the coming season, confirmed that Mick Daly, Brian O’Regan and Neil O’Sullivan won’t be available when the championship comes around.

“Mick is due to go on extended army duty to Liberia shortly and is likely to call it a day, while Brian and Neil are off to America and Australia early in June and will be away for two years,” said Fitzgerald.

“While all three will be a loss, you cannot blame the younger lads in particular for wanting to see the world. They have set their hearts on going and you cannot stop them. Fortunately we have a lot of players coming through and they will now get the opportunity to stake their claims to a place on the team. Darragh Breen from Wexford is also available, so we should be okay.”

Meanwhile, the Cork senior footballers could be without Derek Kavanagh for their entire National League campaign. The big Nemo midfielder collapsed in a heap with nobody near him during Sunday’s semi-final and it will be later in the week before the extent of the injury is known.

James Masters was also in the wars; he complained of a hamstring strain during the game but played to the finish. He may need a few weeks rest to clear up the problem.

Looking back on Sunday’s defeat, coach Fitzgerald said it was the first time Nemo had come up against that style of play and found it very difficult to cope with it: “No team down south plays that style of football, and it was the first time we came up against it. It’s not my style of football, but the northern teams seem to have adopted it very well. There were times in the game when Galls had no player in our half of the field and it’s very difficult to play against that style.

“Midfield becomes very crowded and it’s impossible to play when you are surrounded by three, sometimes four players. It’s not a pretty spectacle but that’s the way the game is gone.

“Galls are quite capable of winning the final. It’s back to the drawing board for us. We’ve come a long way after losing a number of very experienced players and from that point of view we’ve had a very good run. At the end of the day, it was only a game of football and we’ll bounce back.”

There was some good news yesterday for Nemo when James Masters was named as 2005 AIB Provincial Player for Munster in football.

Jerry O’Connor of Newtownshandrum won the Munster award for hurling.

Football Awards: Alan Kerins, Connacht/Salthill/Knocknacarra; Ray Cosgrove, Leinster/Kilmacud Crokes; James Masters, Munster/Nemo Rangers; Karl Stewart, Ulster/St Galls. Hurling Awards: Damien Hayes, Connacht/Portumna; Eoin Larkin, Leinster/James Stephens; Jerry O’Connor, Munster/Newtownshandrum; Johnny McGrattan, Ulster/Ballygalget.