Tomás Ó Sé revelling in Nemo Rangers role, declares Stephen O’Brien

Manager Stephen O’Brien has lauded Tomás Ó Sé’s role in returning Nemo Rangers to the showpiece event of Cork football.

The 37-year old five-time All-Ireland medal-winner joined the club at the tail end of last year and has featured in all five of their championship outings en route to Sunday’s decider.

Indeed, with first-team regulars Stephen Cronin, Brian O’Regan and Sean McKeown bowing out at various junctures through injury and emigration, Ó Sé has been a welcome addition to the Nemo defence.

“We all know how good a player he is and he has a wealth of experience. The lads like playing with him and learning from him at the same time,” said O’Brien.

“Look and learn is an old term, and it’s certainly true in this instance. He does a lot of things right during games and he’s great to have on your side.

“All the lads get on well with him. His children are involved with Nemo and I’m sure he never thought he’d be playing in a Cork county final. He’s delighted to represent us and sure he knows a lot of the older lads around the club, people like Billy Morgan, Dinny Allen and Jimmy Kerrigan. He is enjoying it, which is great.”

Reflecting on the road travelled to the final, O’Brien points to the fourth round draw against Douglas as the turning-point in their summer. They could so easily have been thrown to the curb.

“We had a lot of work done for the Ilen Rovers game in round one. We said we’d get a good base at the start of the year, but we were down five or six players from the panel for the first Douglas game. We struggled to make 24 for that game. Peter Morgan broke his leg. Stephen Cronin broke two bones in his leg and Brian O’Regan did his cruciate. Sean McKeown emigrated.

“We didn’t see our four Cork players, Paul Kerrigan, Barry O’Driscoll, Stephen, obviously and Micheal Aodh Martin during the summer either so the whole thing was very disruptive. We didn’t see them until the week of the game. I think it told in the drawn game with Douglas. We were very disjointed and we were haunted to get out of it with a draw.

“We had a few weeks to prepare for the replay and that was important, for the Cork players in particular, because it takes time for them to gel again with the rest of the panel.”

And his thoughts on Castlehaven? “They lost to Carbery Rangers in a replay last year and form often tends to go out the window in a local derby in West Cork. The Haven had been on the road for a long time and it does take a toll. They seem like a fresher team now and the break does seem to have suited them. But we have the same hunger, too. A lot of people, even some in our own club, didn’t expect us to get close to Carbery in the semi-final, so were delighted to get over the line.

“This year we came at it differently and trained hard from a good bit out. We’re delighted to be back in the final.”