'There was no panic' - Robbie O'Dwyer hails Nemo 'heart' after semi-final gut check

Mark Cronin clinched the victory for the city heavyweights.

Nemo Rangers manager Robbie O'Dwyer with Conor Horgan after their victory over Newcestown. Pic: Dan Linehan

Nemo Rangers manager Robbie O’Dwyer said they ignored the outside distractions that suggested their Cork Premier SFC semi-final with Newcestown might be one-way traffic.

In an extremely hard-fought 2-14 to 0-19 victory over the west Cork side, they had to remain focused right to the end of extra time, before reaching the final for the fourth consecutive year, having lost the last two showdowns to Castlehaven.

A Mark Cronin free proved to be the sole difference in the end.

It was a battle royal of two outstanding teams.

“Thrilled,” he said. “We knew coming into the game today it was going to be a tough battle and it turned out that way after. You saw fellas going down with cramps, we used all our subs. We just got through it.

“I feel sorry for Newcestown, in fairness they put up a right battle. Semi-finals are about winning and we are lucky to get over the line.

“Everyone was saying we were going to hammer Newcestown, that was never going to happen from our point of view. We played them in the group stage last year and David Buckley got injured after about 10 minutes and we still only got over the line by only about two points. They are a good side.

“People say they are dogged, this, that and the other, but they have some good footballers as well. They showed that today and I think people need to take a look at themselves because they had a great chance today.” 

Newcestown travelled a longer road to the last four, Nemo taking the direct route from the group stage.

“It was the first time we got that automatic spot. We had a good couple of challenge games and we had an A versus B then last weekend. I didn’t think it did us any harm, I thought we started well, didn’t push on. We let them dictate the pace for periods in the first half. But that’s how it goes. It was anybody’s game.

“We were standing off them in the second quarter, not what we would normally do. We let them dictate and were on the back foot. And in fairness to them then, they were getting the scores and got on top of us.” 

It was Mark Cronin who levelled the match for Nemo at the break, 0-8 apiece.

“There was no panic in the dressing room. We’ve been here before. We’ve played games where we were against the wind and turned it around. It was just about getting ourselves in better positions, winning breaks, getting on the front foot really and trying to dictate the game and play at our tempo.

“We improved as the second-half went on, obviously we didn’t for the first 10 or 15 minutes because we went down seven points. Our fellas showed great heart to come back into the game."

Nemo had to be patient. Behind 0-15 to 0-8, they raised two green flags in the 39th and 50th minute to draw level for only the second time.

“At the end of the day, I think Kieran Histon’s goal turned the tide for us. That was the start of it. After that we started to get that bit of momentum. As it turned out, it was still nip and tuck all the way to the finish. It could have gone anyway at the end.” 

Again, it was Nemo who had to come from behind to force extra-time through a Conor Horgan point at the end of regulation. With at least five minutes of additional time, neither side could find a winner.

“In extra-time, if Barry Cripps had got that goal (hit the post), that might have pushed us on. It didn’t. They went ahead, we levelled. We went ahead, they levelled. There was nothing much in it. You could see bodies were tired. A point at that stage was going to make a difference and we were lucky enough to come out on the right side.” The demands of 90 minutes of high-intensity took its toll.

“Seems to be cramp mostly,” he said. “None of the lads said they have anything (serious). Colin Molloy might have a calf injury but I’m hoping it is only cramp. We’ll worry about that tomorrow.”