Mitchell rues poor first-half
COOLERA-STRANDHILL were in shock. Just three weeks on from the high of winning the Owen B Hunt Cup for the first time since 2005, CooleraStrandhill were left numb after an underwhelming display against powerful St Brigid’s of Roscommon at Dr Hyde Park.
The Sligo champions were seven points adrift at full-time, 0-13 to 1-3, but they were nine behind, 0-9 to 0-0, after producing a scoreless first-half on Sunday last.
“We’re bitterly disappointed, particularly with our first-half performance,” said Enda Mitchell, who is Coolera-Strandhill’s joint-manager along with Adrian McPartland.
“We tried to go out with a game plan – contain them [St Brigid’s] and then hit on the break. We had enough possession in the first-half but we didn’t take those chances. He continued: “We gave possession back cheaper than how we were earning it from them. We deserved to be down at half-time time but maybe nine points was a harsh reflection of the first-half.
“In the second-half we played a lot better but still it took us too long to get going.”
In the scramble for any sort of positives to take from a chilly November afternoon, Mitchell dismissed the fact that Coolera-Strandhill ‘won’ the second-half as they outscored St Brigid’s, 1-3 to 0-4, with the game’s only goal coming from Leo Doherty.
“I don’t look at it that way – the game is 60+ minutes. You can’t afford not to play well in a half and then expect to win.
“The one encouraging thing was that the fight was still there, right up to the final whistle.”
He added: “This result won’t take away our Sligo success. Winning the county title this year was the key thing. It would have been nice to progress in Connacht but this just wasn’t our day.”