Masters ready to prove point as Nemo eye Ballina battle

JAMES MASTERS has more than one reason for relishing Nemo Rangers’ All-Ireland club semi-final with Ballina Stephenites (Ennis, Sunday, 2pm).

There’s the opportunity to put the three-month Cork dispute into the rearview mirror and concentrate at last on football. There is the hope of returning the famed club to Croke Park and then there is the matter of exorcising the demons from his last visit to GAA HQ — and a crushing defeat to the Kingdom.

“It was very difficult,” he says of the All-Ireland SFC final loss.

“We had a meeting with Billy (Morgan) the day after. He just wanted us all to drive it on. That lifted our spirts a small bit. After that, I was back with the lads; I hadn’t trained with them for a month before that.”

Nemo hold the record of winning the most All-Ireland titles in hurling or football — seven — a fair achievement for a club whose support base is dwarfed by the magnificence of their new complex. Masters recognises a crucial element in their success rate is the sense of family which prevails. Former stars like Denis Allen, Timmy Dalton and Colin Corkery are around all the time. “There’s an awful lot of unity in Nemo. I know it’s a massive complex, but we see it as a little village. Everyone hangs around with everyone.”

Another of their former stars is manager Ephie Fitzgerald, who has guided the club to success in the last three county championships. Other than savouring the challenge of getting back to Croke Park and winning another championship, there is the chance of getting over the disappointment of losing at the semi-final stage two years ago, to Antrim side St Gall’s.

“That was frustrating,” recalled Masters, who suffered a hamstring tear near the end of the game. “I think everyone looks back on that and we’re just trying to make amends. Maybe we underestimated them. We learned our lesson, that won’t happen against Ballina.”

Masters acknowledges the threat the Connacht champions pose.

“Ballina are a very strong side, with a lot of household names. The brand of football they play is unreal. They have the two boys who are midfield for Mayo and they carry a lot of experience, but we have two good midfielders to match them. And Paul Kerrigan is flying. I got Munster ‘Player of the Year,’ but he should have got it. I sent him a text saying his award is in the house if he wants it!”

Apart from Nemo’s tradition, which lives on in Kerrigan (son of Jimmy Kerrigan who distinguished himself with Cork), there are further links with previous winning teams. Billy Morgan’s son Briain, is in goal. And Mickey Niblock’s son David is in the squad.

And, Masters takes great encouragement from the character the present team has shown: “I still think the biggest thing about Nemo this year is that we are driving on — even if we were scraping through in tight games.”