O’Connor admits Reds just weren’t good enough

Eoin O’Connor was in no mood to mince his words after Sunday’s heavy defeat to Meath, insisting Louth just weren’t ‘good enough’.

However, the St Pat’s attacker doesn’t accept that Meath represent a mental stumbling block for Louth.

‘We weren’t good,’ he said. ‘It’s the same thing again really, you work hard and then on the day you lose the fundamentals and when that happens against teams like Meath you get beaten.

‘We were close at one stage I suppose, we got back into it in the second-half, but then we fell away again and the better team on the day won.’

Louth haven’t beaten Meath in the Championship since 1975, but O’Connor doesn’t believe that affected the current squad.

‘I think a lot of the boys had a good year and they know what we’re capable of - we just weren’t good enough on the day, so I don’t think it’s a mentality thing.

‘We were opened up near the end when we had to go all out. Boys like Graham Reilly do that to you when you leave them free. But if you lose by two or by 10 it’s all the same really.’

After taking a year out from inter-county football and spending time in the US, O’Connor has been in fine form this season. He paid tribute to the Louth supporters and hopes they will continue to back the team for the rest of the summer.

‘Today there was a great atmosphere and great support as usual, but it’s just a pity we couldn’t back it up and put a bit of pride in the crest.

‘We would have loved to beat Meath and push on from the league, but it’s not all over. We’ll learn from today and have a hard look at ourselves. We learned from the mistakes in the Wicklow game and we did improve, but obviously it wasn’t enough on the day.’