Fermanagh boss focuses on recovery for next round clash
Ulster U20 Championship
FERMANAGH boss Maurice Mclaughlin did not hide his disappointment at a game he believed his side had every chance of taking against a typically physically powerful Roscommon side in Ederney. But a freakish goal in the first half when Amagh were playing with the aid of a sizable breeze proved to be a killer blow to the Ernesiders who lost by 1-10 to 0-7 and now take on neighbours Donegal in the next round of the competition on Wednesday week,
“It is very disappointing and from our perspective it was a missed opportunity.
“We played with an element of naivete in the first half and we gifted them the ball too easily and they scored 1-7 from turnovers and that is pretty concerning.
“That is a huge statistic by any standards.”
On the crucial goal, he did not apportion any blame saying:
“It was just one of those things and you a trying to get a short kick out away especially when you are playing against a heavy wind.
“Armagh just got a high press on it and they worked pretty hard at it and turned the ball over and had a simple goal.”
This was a real killer blow to the Ernesiders as Mclaughlin acknowledged.”
“We would have felt that the breeze was worth six or seven points to Armagh and the goal adds another three which made it really difficult.
“It left us with that bit more to do in the second half even though it was not insurmountable.
But he said he was pleased with the “work rate, effort and endeavour that the lads showed in the second half and we just did not get those breaks and we could easily have been in the mix coming down the home straight.”
“We gained a bit of momentum and got the margin back to five points at one stage which was promising.
“But we missed a goal chance with about 12 minutes to go and Damien Óg Kelly was a bit unlucky and he hit a great shot from the wing-but it was just off target.
“We felt that if we had got a goal at that stage, we could have kicked on and actually got a result. They had a lot of power and Tadhg Grimley and James Austin were most impressive as well as Barry O’hagan.”
He added: “Armagh were physically powerful and when we got the run at them we looked dangerous.
“Our next match is in Ballybofey on Wednesday week against Donegal.
“But the great thing from this year’s championship is that we get a chance to learn from a defeat like this. We go to Ballybofey and it’s a new game and they are a great bunch of lads and we can’t fault their commitment and they will be more disappointed and hurting than anyone else a they know that they are better than they showed in the first half against Armagh while playing against the wind.
“They showed glimpses of what they can do in the second and there is definitely something to work with in this group.”