Phillips proud of players in face of real provocation
RONAN Phillips didn’t pull any punches after a fractious affair at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday.
The Blues boss felt Rathnew came to Drogheda with an agenda and he was proud of his own players for showing remarkable restraint.
‘We knew that was going to happen, to be honest. That was something we prepared the lads for. We didn’t want anyone sent off and we wanted to be disciplined and in fairness the lads only got involved when they had to. They stood up for themselves, that was all, and they can be proud of that - I’m proud of them. That’s not Gaelic football, but it didn’t happen by freak, it’s obviously something they [Rarthnew] planned to do. It’s new to us so we have to live and learn.
’One of the things we prized ourselves on this year was our discipline. You’ll get black cards here and there, that’s going to happen, but our discipline has been excellent and that was a conscious effort.
On the game itself, Phillips felt the better team lost and it was hard to argue with the Blues chief.
‘It was a bit of a sickener the way the game went but these lads have been great all year. We got a lot of luck this year, made our own luck, but today the two goals were bad to give away I felt.
‘The young lads - and even the old lads - gave it their best shot and sometimes you just don’t get the rub of the green. I don’t think we got it today, but it’s a learning curve for a lot of these young lads and you have to lose at certain times. They’ve won an awful lot these lads and I know there’s no such thing as a good loss, but they might learn more from today than any other game.’
‘I do think we were a better team than them today and we lost and that’s the most disappointing thing.’
After losing John Connolly and Stephen Moonan in the build-up, Andy McDonnell played most of the game with a knock and it all seemed to catch up on the Blues in the end.
‘Andy was a massive loss and to be honest I think he was gone after 10 minutes. We tried to hang on and on and maybe to our detriment. When you have players like Andy McDonnell you try to hold on to them for as long as you can. Maybe it was something they targeted and it worked out well for them.
‘We played them years ago, but I don’t think you need a history [between clubs]. It just happens with some clubs. It’s a learning curve when you come out of Louth and I think this will stand to our lads. They didn’t let me down, I thought we were the better team.’
Phillips felt a better start to the second-half would have made all the difference, but he praised his players for a fine season.
‘We looked a bit lacklustre after half-time. I certainly won’t start giving out about our lads but a couple of things didn’t go our way, that’s life.’