Change of attitude key in Nemo's comeback win over Ballincollig, says boss Robbie O'Dwyer

Nemo Rangers looked in bother at half-time last Friday evening against Ballincollig in the McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC Group 3 Round 1 tie at Ballygarvan.

The city side trailed by five points at the short whistle and even though that’s very little nowadays with the new rules, Ballincollig looked like claiming an unlikely win against Nemo Rangers.

The eventual winners showed their class in the second 30 minutes and most importantly conviction to win on a scoreline of 1-16 to 1-14.

Nemo Rangers manager Robbie O’Dwyer was pleased to have won the opening group game having been in an awkward position.

“I just think we just didn't play well at all in the first half,” he said post-match. 

“Like we started well, we went up a couple of points and then Ballincollig got a run on us and we just couldn't get a hold of the game and they were on top all over the pitch.

“But we just went in at half-time, we spoke about it and we said look lads, we're still in the game, only five points down and we just need to get involved and get our tempo up and push up on them.

“We were letting them play out from the back, we just needed to push up on them and when we did, it worked out well in the end. I thought Ballincollig did play very well in the first half, in fairness, like when they ran at us and they had runners, we found it hard to get to grips with them.

“We had a lot of players that were just coming back from injury, so from that point of view, this game will bring us on a ton. We are thrilled with the victory.” 

Nemo Rangers were very unlike Nemo Rangers in the first half even if Ballincollig were impressive. There was no hairdryer treatment inside in the dressing room at the break, but a few stern words did the trick.

“There was a change of attitude, everything really, our execution was much better. Words had to be said and the players knew that themselves and they knew that it had to be better and they had to come out and play. They did that brilliantly in the second half.

“The goal we were scoring into in the second half, as a lot of people know, that's the scoring goal. It worked out for us anyway. I just can't ask for any more from my fellas. They just came out in the second half and within the first 15 minutes, got us back into the game and we just pushed on from there.

“If you win the first game, it takes a bit of pressure off, so look, we've got four weeks now to the Douglas game. A lot of fellas are just coming back from injury, so the next three training weeks or so will be important to get us up to where we need to get to.” O'Dwyer concluded. 

Both Paul Kerrigan and Ross Corkery were injured for the Ballincollig game, but the Nemo Rangers boss was hopeful that they would feature as the season progresses.