Brennon focused on improvement after Donegal loss

Louth again found themselves on the wrong side of the result against Donegal but Ger Brennan would not seek out excuses for his side’s third loss in a row in Ballyshannon.

Despite a somewhat contentious goal from the hosts at a crucial juncture in the second half of the close encounter, Brennan was firmly looking inwards.

“We had possession and lost it further up the pitch,” Brennan began. “The first thing we need to look at is whether we can work on skill execution. We were a bit loose on a couple of occasions and Donegal are a strong counter-attacking team.

“Off that unforced error, we allowed Donegal to run through pretty much 13 or 14 players. We need to identify when to track and when to cover space.”

“That’s three games now on the bounce where we haven’t been quite good enough to get the job done and it puts us under a bit more pressure now coming down the home stretch against Fermanagh and Kildare, where we have to go and win to secure Division 2 status.”

Ironically Brennan was happy with the effort levels and improved accuracy in front of the posts but that achilles heel this season of silly free’s is continuing to haunt his tenure.

"I thought our lads battled hard. We were a bit slow to get going in the first half and eventually worked our way into the game.
“We came in at half-time a point or two behind after conceding several scorable frees, which is something we’re trying to continue to work on. We worked on it during the week but it’s another part of our game that we have to go after.

“The better team on the day won. Donegal were very clinical in how they transitioned from their defence to attack. Their usage of the ball in the final third was probably a bit cuter. Now, in fairness, our shot-to-score ratio, we got to 15 scores, which is a big improvement.

“We chatted about that during the week so it was good to see shots for scores going over the bar.”
Overall did Brennan feel his lads deserved something from the game?

“I would have learned quickly enough when I was playing that you don’t always get what you deserve in sport.
“You have to go, take it and try to grasp it with two hands. The league table doesn’t reflect how hard the team and players have been working, and the honesty of the group.

“We’ll all look at the footage and see aspects of our game where we can improve, and try to do that for Fermanagh.”
In the finish, with two games remaining it was put to Brennan was he confident of staying up?

"The only thing I’m confident about is how hard we’re going to work in the next two weeks to try and put things right. It would be a foolish man to make statements,” he finished.