Nemo silence the doubters

HANDS UP if you’re surprised. Don’t look so sheepish; there’s a long queue behind you.

Many reliable observers were beguiled by Errigal Chiarain’s victories over Ballinderry and Crossmaglen in Ulster and assumed this was a bridge too far for Nemo Rangers.

Too many miles on the clock, found wanting in the final furlong. So go the theories.

Billy Morgan’s side has lost two competitive games in three years, both All Ireland club finals, one by a point. They have seven Cork senior footballers, should have another in wing-back Gary Murphy, and contrary to myth, have an average panel age of 24. They are the benchmark for every club football team in the country, but, predictably, they will be harshly judged on 60 minutes against Crossmolina on St Patrick’s Day.

“I don’t think we’ve anything to prove at this stage,” shrugged captain, Colin Corkery, who enjoyed more success than his counterpart Peter Canavan primarily because he had better players around him.

Man of the match, Steven O’Brien added: “We’ve been big enough to take two final defeats on the chin but we haven’t gone off sulking about it. Teams beaten in All Ireland finals often aren’t heard of for five years, but we’ve got the bit between our teeth and we’re going for it again.”

His coach needed reminding of Nemo’s outstanding record since 2000, but Billy Morgan was word perfect on the tactical nuances of yesterday’s semi-final in Portlaoise, not least his selection and employment of 33-year-old O’Brien as a deep lying centre forward.

Niall Geary was to play Peter Canavan from the back throughout, conceding possession on the premise that his superior fitness and pace would deny Canavan goal-scoring space. The Tyrone talisman finished with a point from play.

Explained Morgan: “What Canavan is good at is drifting off you. If you play him from the front or side by side, he can shoot away from you suddenly, so Niall felt that keeping him in view all the time would help because Peter’s not as quick as he used to be and though he was winning a lot of possession, he couldn’t get around Niall.

“Steven O’Brien is the best footballer I’ve ever dealt with,” Morgan reckoned. “He has a lot of miles on the clock but once he gets the ball in his hands, he won’t waste it. You need someone to keep the ball and use it well.

Added selector Denis Allen: “The first word I think of with Stephen is stability. When he’s on the ball, everyone around him appears to relax because he’s a very good user of possession. The young lads are all enthusiastic, but he’s been a very good calming influence on them.”

O’Brien has only played two and a half games since returning from debilitating groin and back problems last year, but his savvy and varied use of the ball - aided by the loose marking of Paul Horrisk - was in sharp contrast to Errigal’s overwhelming reliance on Peter Canavan.

“Usually I last until fifteen minutes from the end because we have a bunch of young fellas chomping at the bit who are well capable of playing at this grade. I’m the battering ram for forty minutes but today things went well, and maybe the bit of experience helped.

“Billy wanted me to play a bit deeper against the wind. The most important thing was not to go five points down early in the first half, when they had the wind.”

Denis Allen accepted that the last ten minutes were “a bit hairy” but O’Brien was happy that once they didn’t concede a goal, Nemo would see it out.

“Perhaps there was an element of fear there,” O’Brien mused. “Maybe we have to keep driving on til the end. It’s something we have to look at.”

However he quickly headed off any suggestion that Nemo were looking for an All Ireland to see off the naysayers. “Some say we want to win an All Ireland to prove people wrong. We’re doing it for ourselves. This isn’t even a club thing, this is for a bunch of players in this dressing room.”

Colin Corkery offered a snap “six or seven out of ten” assessment of Nemo’s display: “We can play much better, but it’s difficult to play a semi final at this time of the year because you’re coming back after a break when you haven’t played a championship game in ten weeks. It’s almost impossible to get good practice games so it’s hard to gauge how you are going. But we were solid today without being spectacular.

“Now we’re looking at upping it 20% for the final. We’ve always concentrated on what we have to do ourselves. The experience is there, so we won’t be blaming anyone outside this dressing room if we don’t win the All Ireland.”

Morgan’s deep well of experience makes it easy for him to focus on the here and now, and the manner in which he enjoys every individual success helps him from plotting future battles. “Added pressure for the final? Nobody has talked about losing the two finals. Whether they have it at the back of their mind, I don’t know, but other people refer to it a lot more than we do.”