‘It’s all part of a learning experience for them’
WICKLOW manager Paul McLoughlin spoke afterwards and he gave his overall thoughts on the match.
“We’re just trying to thaw out after that, I’ve never been involved in a match like it. The rain was unbelievable.
“We were beaten by a better team today, there’s no two ways about that. The only disappointing fact about today is that we didn’t play to our potential.
“The last time I was talking to you I said we wanted to have a long summer and we’re still playing in August so we’re happy enough with the overall picture but a little bit disappointed with the performance today. We’re better than the score line suggested today.”
McLoughlin knew his side was coming up against a very good Tipperary team, the reigning Munster champions and beaten in the Division 3 final after a replay.
“They’re favourites for the All-Ireland for a reason. They have a lot of experienced, older girls, they have experience right down the middle of their team.
“We knew if we made mistakes we’d be punished and unfortu- nately with the day that was in it it was easy to make mistakes and we were punished. It’s all part of a learning experience for them. When you can’t convert against teams like Tipperary you’re going to get punished. Tipperary are seasoned campaigners and they were coming into it playing at a much higher level than we did.
“That’s why it’s important for Wicklow to try and get out of Division 4 next year.”
The weather made for an extraordinary day and McLaughlin was “disappointed” with how long it took for the referee to make a decision to restart the match.
”They gave us the option to wait a half of hour but we didn’t want to do that. We felt they’d be sitting around and then they’d have to go out and warm up again and go back out on a wet pitch. Somebody could easily pick up an injury. But the decision was made and we went along with it and under no circumstances would we use it as an excuse for being beaten because we were beaten by a better team.”
The year has been very successful in an overall context even if the result on Saturday was disheartening.
“We won three championship matches, we reached the league semi-final. In fairness to them to still play football in August and be an hour away from an All-Ireland semi-final today is a massive achievement. It’s a testament to the hard work they’ve put in for the last six or seven months, since last November.
“It didn’t come as a fluke, they’ve worked hard for it and they’re starting to believe in themselves again as a squad and I definitely think the future is very bright for this team.
“The players appreciate the work the county board and Dominic (Leech) have done for them and they’ve been well looked after. There’s a bit of a buzz around ladies football again and we’re hoping that people will stick together and have another go at it next year.
“On behalf of myself and Dave the coach and Mick they’ve put in huge work. A massive thank you to the players and the county board and to everyone that supported us, they’ve made the job so easy this year. We’ve brought them as far as we could this year and unfortunately today was just that little step too far.
“Days like this will only make them better.”