Billy Morgan reminded everyone that he'd been here before. In 1989 his Cork team came back from two successive All-Ireland defeats to redeem themselves ("It was Mayo let him off the hook that day as well," was one acerbic comment.) Yesterday Nemo, the aristocrats of club football, avoided the unlordly fate of losing three-in-a-row.

But he was honest in recalling his feelings as that dreadful prospect had hovered into view when he lost both his full back and centre back, Niall Geary and Martin Cronin, to injury in the first half. How did he feel?

"Not good. They're two of our most experienced defenders and to have the two of them go off was worrying.

"Kieran McDonald is a good player and takes marking," continued Morgan, talking about his team's scourge from two years ago when the clubs had previously met and Crossmolina had won.

"We thought Martin Cronin was the ideal man to do it. He started well but then Kieran got a few scores, but the problem was further back. Their backs were being allowed up to set him up for scores. But we brought in young Brian O'Regan, who's only 19, and Gary Murphy moved over and did a very good job."

Foreboding returned in the dying minutes when Nemo seemed physically incapable of taking the decisive initiative.

"When we drew level we had three or four chances to go ahead and missed them. I began to think that it wasn't going to be our day."

Colin Corkery provided deliverance - for himself after missing some good chances as much as for the team. "Colin wasn't having a particularly good day," said Morgan, "but things like that don't get to him. No matter how a match is going he won't shirk responsibility."

"I thought it was too far out and I'd missed a few before," was Corkery's verdict on the lead point. "But, as soon as I hit it, I knew it was over." No inhibitions after those earlier misses? "If you think that you'll never be any kind of player."

For Morgan's Crossmolina counterpart, Mayo manager John Maughan, there was a touch of Groundhog Day. Twice he's led Mayo to All-Ireland finals but with nothing to show for it. He was guarded about reading too many personal issues into the afternoon.

"It's a team thing. It doesn't haunt me. We could have been beaten in the first round of the championship. If you ask me would I prefer to lose here or there, well I'd prefer to lose here.

"We didn't take our chances. You wouldn't have to be a rocket scientist to work that out. We had four or five at the start of the second half and missed them and late in the game there were one or two occasions when we weren't that smart on the ball. Then Colin Corkery lands a bomb - even though Tom Nallen did a wonderful job on him for most of the afternoon.

"We struggled in the second half and weren't getting quality ball into the forwards. We led a charmed existence at times and Barry Heffernan kept us in it. We could have been three or four down. At half-time I said that we wouldn't be relying on that kind of luck in the second half.

"Tactically they were going to try and snuff out the threat of Kieran McDonald just as we were going to try and limit Colin Corkery. But Kieran was on fire - he just stopped getting any quality ball and we weren't able to get him on the ball."