Doubters spurred us on, admits delighted Fitzgerald

EPHIE FITZGERALD admitted his Nemo Rangers side were motivated by being ‘written off in a lot of quarters’ ahead of yesterday’s All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final win over Ballina Stephenites.

He also dismissed as ‘bull......’ claims the Cork side would struggle physically against the Mayo champions and that their own form was ‘patchy’.

Said Fitzgerald: “We are a good side. There are a lot of young fellows coming on, but it takes time to mould them. We have the confidence they would do what they did today. We are delighted.’’

While acknowledging the vital contribution of James Masters, he credited ‘the older heads, the Martin Cronins — these guys who have been through the mill before’ for their leadership. Cronin was relieved they had done themselves justice, recalling the disappointment of losing to St. Gall’s in the semi-final two years ago.

“I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of the win, all we can do is beat what’s in front of us and move on again. I felt we had to come to the table and either we were good enough or not good enough. It would have been very disappointing going back if we lost a second semi-final.’’

Ballina manager Liam Higgins agreed that James Masters had played a key role in their downfall.

“He’s a class act and he got that bit of room. If he gets room to swing that left peg at all he’ll punish you. We didn’t have a man to get in real close (on him). Then, he’s so good that he’s able to make space,’’ he commented.

The Nemo boss, meanwhile, was delighted that things went so smoothly for Masters, explaining: “He had been going through a rough patch since the All-Ireland. He had the injury before the final and then came back possibly too soon. James is James, he’s a fantastic footballer. If you get the right service to him he’s deadly.

“But he wasn’t alone,’’ he said in relation to the outstanding display from midfielder Peter Morgan (son of Noel Morgan, another link with the first winning team back in 1973). “That was his debut in an All-Ireland semi-final. I thought he was brilliant against such experienced opposition. That was the challenge that was there for us. I thought we had more legs than them possibly. We looked fresher.”

Higgins added: “Nemo played very well and they were very good around the field in broken play. They picked up a lot of breaks, they didn’t let us get into positions where we could kick scores.’’