Down stalemate is ‘a point lost’
AFTER seeing his side record their third draw from five games in Division 3 of the 2020 Lidl national football league, Wicklow senior ladies manager, Mark Murnaghan, has described their 0-11 to 0-11 stalemate against Down as ‘a point lost’.
Having already picked up draws against Longford and Laois from their four previous games of their year’s campaign, Wicklow were held in Down, with Laura Hogan scoring a late free to secure the point that leaves them fifth in the league with one win, one defeat, and three draws from five games.
While he admitted that his side were improving with each passing match, Murnaghan said that this weekend’s result represented a point lost, rather than one gained.
‘If you weren’t at the match, you would have said that it was a good result, but if you were at the match, it was a point lost,’ he said. ‘I personally thought that we were six or seven points better off, but saying that, not many teams are going to go up there and take points, so I’m happy enough but a bit disappointed, as well.
‘We are still learning and they were top of the table. Overall, it was good. It was just that we are still learning and are playing teams above us, as well. They’re playing good, competitive matches which is the main thing in the league.
‘They were very defensive and we found it hard to break it down, sometimes, but when we did do things right, we broke them down. It was a really competitive game that we needed.
‘We drew with Laois, we drew with Longford, and we drew with Down. We have always come from behind by nine points, three points, and two points, so they’re not stopping or giving up when they are behind. That was the main thing; we kept going to the final whistle.
With just two matches remaining in the league, and Limerick to come in the All-Ireland Junior Football Championship in July, Murnaghan insisted that he was happy with how the team have been progressing so far, and that they remain confident of making it to the business end in the summer.
‘As a manager, all you can ask for from your players is an honest effort over 60 minutes, and if they give that, I am happy enough.
‘It clicked against Sligo, it clicked for 40 minutes yesterday, and it is really the championship when we want to hit the ground running, so we won’t be hitting any panic buttons, yet.
‘We have played five and only lost one game in the league, which is brilliant. We are the highest ranked team in the Junior championship.
‘We are aiming to be in the business end of the championship, but we can’t take anything for granted.
‘We have to keep our feet on the ground and keep working hard on the training pitch.’
Photos: Maurice McKey