‘We will need to up it’

JAFC REACTION

ASHFORD manager Darren Doyle was brutally honest in his assessment of his side’s performance after their victory over Barndarrig in the semi-finals of the junior ‘A’ football championship, describing their showing as ‘poor’ and insisting that they have a lot of work to do if they are to mount a meaningful challenge against Valleymount in the decider.

A well-worked second-half goal from Ross Quinn turned the tide of Sunday’s encounter in their favour, setting the stage for Ashford to come from behind and claim the 1-10 to 0-12 win, despite being second-best for much of the uninspiring contest in Aughrim.

Neither side were at their best on the day, but Barndarrig were still the team on top for the majority of proceedings, only for Quinn to cap off a flowing counter-attacking move to turn the game around.

Speaking after the game, Darren Doyle was highly critical of his men’s performance, saying that they will need to show a lot more if they are to give Valleymount a run for their money in the final.

‘I thought, again today, we were really poor,’ Doyle confessed. ‘These early starts don’t suit us. We were really poor, so we will need to up it again against Valleymount, because they are the team to beat in the championship.’

Going even further, Darren said that he believed his team only played their game for a quarter of the game, and that Ross Quinn’s goal changed their fortunes. Looking ahead to the final against Valleymount, he said that they will need back-to-front improvements. Ashford have already recorded a victory over Valleymount this campaign when they came out on top 1-17 to 1-9 at the end of July, although Doyle insisted that that particular result will have absolutely no bearing on what happens when the two teams meet in a fortnight’s time.

‘I do think (the goal) turned it around and then we kind of kicked on. We played roughly 15 minutes of football today, so it is tough. We played about 15 minutes of football at the end where we got a handle on Barndarrig.

‘I genuinely think we need to improve all over the field. We’ve played Valleymount this year; we beat them but that does not make any odds. Valleymount are the team to beat in this championship. We played a game before it. Valleymount were in the semi-finals so they