Appetite back for battle-hardened Nemo

The last time Nemo Rangers went three years in a row without winning a County SFC title was before the millennium.

For the duration of the noughties, the city club’s grip on the Andy Scannell Cup was a tight one, but recent years have not been as fruitful.

In 2011, Avondhu eliminated them in the quarter-finals while last year they didn’t make it beyond the last 16, going down to rivals St Finbarr’s.

When they lost to Castlehaven in this year’s first round, it looked to be confirming the downward spiral, but the response has been admirable as they have reached Sunday’s final, against the same ’Haven.

The punctuation of the dominance, and subsequent return to contention, are part of sport’s natural cycles, argues Nemo manager Steven O’Brien.

“The team had probably gone stale,” he said.

“They had won a lot of counties and when you have so much success it’s nigh-on impossible to keep that going.

“It’s the law of nature, you go up and down in this game, you can’t win every year, bar the likes of Kilkenny or the great Kerry teams.

“You peak for a year and it’s very hard to maintain that. Any team will tell you that, nobody wins six, seven or eight in-a-row. It’s too hard to do.

“We went back down for a couple of years, and the appetite was there again this year.”

The Nemo management team this year is a new one, having enjoyed success with the club’s U21 side before moving en masse to the senior setup.

Not that it was part of a grand design, O’Brien reveals.

“After the U21 championship last year, we were after three or four years with them so no matter who you’re involved with for that length of time you’ve nearly enough done,” he said.

“The only job that came up for grabs was the senior job. Larry (Kavanagh) was manager of the U21 team last year and we had a chat about it and we just said that we’d give it a go for a couple of years.

“I suppose any fella who gets involved in management wants to do the top team at some stage. It just fell into place more than anything else.”

And, while this year began with the loss to the ’Haven, O’Brien is heartened by the Capwell club’s performances in ensuring a second tilt at the champions.

“They were difficult matches and they could have gone either way,” he said, “especially the last two against Douglas and Bishopstown.

“I’m sure they fancied their chances with 10 minutes to go as much as we did, we just managed to come out on the right side each time. We’re delighted with the response.”