Defeat for Sligo ladies Page 40
Sligo ladies manager Paddy Henry was left ruing his side’s missed opportunities as they fell to an eight point defeat at the hands of Tyrone.
For the second year in a row, Sligo were knocked out of the All Ireland Intermediate Championship at the semi-final stage.
“We’re obviously disappointed and I’m very disappointed for the girls. They put a lot of work in all year. I really thought this was going to be our year. But it wasn’t to be and that’s the way it goes,” he told The Sligo Champion.
“It is obviously hard to go out in the semi-final again, especially after last year’s disappointment,” he added.
His side managed to pull level to seven points apiece with just seconds of the first-half remaining, but Sligo hearts were broken when Tyrone scored a vital goal that gave them a three point lead at the interval.
“We started slowly and Noelle Gormley pulled off a few excellent saves in goal. Tyrone could have been out of sight early on. We did well to come back level just before half-time but then with seconds to go Tyrone scored that goal and it was heart-breaking.
“We should have gone in level at half-time but that was heartbreaking and it really set us back. We had to fight back but we couldn’t get the score.”
His side’s high tally of wides, though, was a concern and although he can’t quite figure out why they hit over so many, he says you cannot win a game with that number.
“We hit 18 wides. When you’re kicking that many wide then you just cannot win. I don’t know if it’s nerves. Maybe for the first 15 or 20 minutes but after that I don’t think it would be nerves,” he said.
Denise McGrath saw her late penalty saved, and had she scored, Sligo could have come closer to catching Tyrone.
“Ciara Gorman had a great game. I felt sorry for Denise McGrath though, missing her penalty. Denise is very good at penalties and that really could have taken us back into the game.
“Those chances come and go,” he continued.
For now, his players return to their clubs for the Club Championship.
“You don’t know what happens next year. The girls will go back to their clubs and let things settle down and then we’ll see for next year.”
Overall though, Paddy Henry feels it has been a good year for his side.
And more importantly, he feels that progress is being made all the time with ladies football in Sligo improving year on year.
“It’s been a good year for us. We wanted to get to a semi-final in the league, but we finished mid-table although we were happy with that.
“We wanted again to get to the semi-final in the Championship and we did that. So we’re making progress all the time here.”