Nemo skipper McCarthy keeps focus on final test

MAURICE McCarthy is sitting in the bar of the Nemo Rangers’ complex, the rest of the squad going through their warm-up outside, as he remembers the bitter-sweetness of last year’s county final.

“Stung like hell!,” McCarthy winces as he recalls being hauled off at half-time as Nemo struggled to contain a lively Ilen Rovers challenge.

“I was hurt, but delighted that someone else could come on and take over midfield, and the fact we came away with the county in the end was all that mattered.”

Needless to say, they moved on. He knows that it’s central to what makes the club and this group of players tick. He knows he wasn’t performing on the day and when you’re not doing the business on a given day, well, there’ll be someone else who will. It’s the Nemo way of keeping guys grounded, of ensuring there’s no inclination to relax, to keep them on their toes through constant pressure from other players. Ask how they stay motivated year upon year and the captain reckons it all harps back to that simple feeling of wanting to play. “You’re constantly being pushed,” McCarthy explains. “Training is phenomenally competitive. I would say our second 15 is as strong as our starting 15 and it brings that bite to training. Every time you go out, you’re battling for your position, no one is guaranteed their place, no matter how big a name. Every time you put on a bib, if you’re taking a complacent view, the likelihood is you won’t start the next day. That’s where the motivation comes from.”

The freshness of the training helps, with different emphasis and new things to work on from management every year they come back. This season brought an added bonus — the captain’s armband was thrown in his direction and, if he wasn’t exactly expecting the honour, he wasn’t likely to turn down that kind of chance either (“I took it in the way I’d been around for a while and brought some experience but I don’t get too bogged down with it”). And as the year unfurled, Nemo found themselves at the business side of things yet again, though there were obstacles to be passed along the way. Castlehaven proved the trickiest in the quarter-finals.

“Certainly Castlehaven put it up to us — the two guys at midfield, Bernie Collins and Dermot Hurley, had an awesome game. But again it’s a perseverance that we bring, maybe that comes from the training sessions, the intensity we try to bring to them. It’s a never-give-up attitude that brought us through the drawn games this year with Haven and last year with Clonakilty. And again it comes back to the people available to us. Every time a position isn’t working out for us, no matter where it is on the pitch, we’ve got someone who’s biting to come in and make the difference. And that’s down to try and force a decision on the management team that they’re tried, tested and proven and can go onto the next game and secure a place. That’s where the no-panic situation comes from maybe, that you know you can bring people in or switch people around on the field and drive on the team that bit further. We’ve had it time and again here. Dylan Mehigan did it in last year’s final. David Niblock switched out against Duhallow, against Castlehaven as well, came out around the middle and caught balls and cleaned up. It’s great to have that option.”

Now it’s only Douglas who stand between them and a pretty impressive four in a row. Yeah, Douglas, the local rivals from down the road who’d most likely take particular satisfaction from ending this run of their neighbours. Extra motivation? Well, McCarthy puts it down to a sad case if you need extra motivation for a county final, but he will concede it gives an certain oomph to the occasion. “I think for both teams, it puts an extra bite there. We’re right next door to each other. I’ve played them on numerous occasions, I know a lot of the lads down there from being an ex-Douglas Community School boy myself. So it gives a bite. But it’s a massive challenge anyway. Douglas will be up for it, they’ve nothing to lose. They’re playing as a unit, they’re foraging, play the ball at pace, have two strong guys in the middle. The character they showed in beating Ilen the second game, when it could have been shattering to leave it behind the first day, shows a huge maturity. They didn’t panic and came out the second day, worked just as hard and won it this time.”

The favourites tag isn’t something that particularly bothers McCarthy either. “I don’t really accept this thing about us being unbackable favourites. That kind of thing can motivate Douglas. I read the same sort of thing before the Ilen game and Douglas didn’t take any notice and rightly so. If we went out with the attitude of being heavy favourites, we’d go on the field complacent and Douglas would wipe the floor with us. I don’t think for a single moment that they won’t put it up to us and unless we’re on top of our game, we won’t win.”

There won’t be any thought of speeches before Sunday but there’ll be nerves jangling as the day nears. “If you stop getting those nerves, then you should probably retire. There should be a level of anticipation, a drive and that’ll bring the nerves. It’s trying to keep that under control and focused. Spending time with the two-year old and seven-month old should calm me down!”

With that, McCarthy’s out the door to training. More work to do. More counties to be won.