Steven O’Brien rues Nemo Rangers' missed chances

Steven O’Brien thought Nemo had it in the bag.

Who didn’t?

“With less than a minute left in injury-time, we were two up and a high ball went into the square and they got the goal. At that stage, there is no coming back,” reflected the Nemo Rangers manager on what was a truly incredible finish to proceedings.

“One mistake and they get the goal. You can’t come back that late in the game.”

As heartbreaking as the conclusion was on Nemo Rangers, what disappointed O’Brien more than the concession of Michael Quinlivan’s late goal was the number of chances he felt his team let slip.

Though by no means straightforward opportunities, both Paul Kerrigan and Barry O’Driscoll hit the post at crucial junctures in the second half.

“We had plenty of chances and we squandered an awful lot of chances. We hit the post and had other missed opportunities.

“We gave away too much ball on the day. We still thought we might have snuck it, but, certainly, it wasn’t one of our better games this year. We had our chance and we missed.

“Certainly in the second half, we changed things around a bit and it all seemed to be going one way.

“The lads worked hard. They have been doing that all year. I just felt today we gave away a few balls when in possession and we hadn’t been doing that.

“The dedication the lads put in is phenomenal. I thought we had it. I didn’t think it was one of our better games, but I still thought we might have stolen it.”

O’Brien also paid tribute to his team’s conquerors who he said were defined by their savage work-rate.

“Clonmel tried very hard. They turned us over on the ball. They worked their socks off. I could blame my lads, but you could also say fair play to Clonmel.”