Morris admits his charges lost to the better team

COLÁISTE BHRÍDE manager Kevin Morris has admitted that his side lost to the better team after seeing his outfit lose out to Presentation De La Salle, Bangelastown 3-14 to 2-14 in the Leinster PPS Senior Hurling ‘C’ Final on Monday afternoon.

The Carnew school were edged out by their Carlow opposition, buoyed by the sharp-shooting of Jake Doyle, despite the best efforts of the impressive Owen Young, who notched up 1-10 on the day.

Reflecting on the defeat, Morris admitted that a slow start did Carnew no favours up against their clinical counterparts, before conceding that Bagenalstown were good value for their win.

‘Overall, you have to say that the better team won on the day,’ he told the Wicklow People after the game.

‘We started a bit flat, and they started very well; they got two early goals, took them well. We were under pressure.

‘We probably didn’t hurl very well in the first-half, and we gave ourselves a huge battle to try and come back up in the second-half. In fairness to the lads, they didn’t give in. We were playing up the hill and, from seven points down with a few minutes left, we got back to within a single puck of the ball.

While he expressed regret at the amount of frees that his team conceded in the second-half, Morris stopped short at criticising his players, before insisting that the talent coming through would help the school compete again next year.

‘We gave away a good few frees. At this level of hurling, you have to say that the refereeing went both ways a bit. There were a lot of frees that went both ways, I think a few of our scores were frees as well. That was the nature of the game.

‘I’m not going to criticise my lads for discipline. They gave everything they had and nearly caught them at the end when we maybe didn’t deserve to. You can’t question their heart.

‘We probably finished that game with 11 or 12 lads in fifth year or younger. I think we’ll probably lose five of the starting team, so there will be 10 lads going on to represent the school again next year.

‘We’ve won at under-16 and got to a final in senior, so it hasn’t been a bad year. You have to hold your hands up when you’re beaten by the better team.