Louth GAA club | “It’s heartbreaking” – Sweeney rues missed Stabannon chances

Stabannon Parnells senior football manager, Shane Sweeney, was left disappointed after his side's Leinster campaign came to an end following a narrow one-point defeat to Dunlavin at Echelon Park in Aughrim on Saturday afternoon.

The Louth GAA intermediate champions led by three points at half-time and recovered from a difficult spell after the restart to regain the lead, but ultimately fell short in their AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship last eight affair.

Sweeney admitted the defeat was difficult to accept, believing his side had travelled to Wicklow with a genuine opportunity to progress but ultimately failed to produce their best performance.

Speaking at full time, he told the Dundalk Democrat, “It's hard to sum up now just after the game, but yeah, it's a bit of a pill to swallow.

“I thought coming down here we had a great opportunity, but we left a little bit behind us there, I think, and we just didn't play to our full potential.”

Sweeney pointed to four missed goal opportunities in the opening half as a major factor in the defeat, while also revealing that county star Seán Reynolds had been struggling with a knee injury.

“We had four great goal opportunities in the first half, and we didn't take them. Another day they go into the net.

“Losing Seán (Reynolds) before the game, it was massive, but we just had to take a gamble there and throw him in, even though he's injured. It's just what we had to do.

“A one-point loss in the end is very, very disappointing and we had loads of opportunities to score, but we just didn't take them, and that's it. Dunlavin took their opportunities, and they got them. We didn't…it's very simple.”

Comeback

Despite holding a three-point advantage at the half time break, the Seamus Flood Cup winners found themselves on the back foot when Dunlavin struck 1-6 without reply after the restart, although a fortunate goal helped spark a spirited response from the Louth champions.

“We spoke to them at half-time that it was very important to get the first score after the break but conceding within the first seven or eight minutes, it was very disappointing.

“Then we got the fortuitous goal, in over the keeper’s head and that kind of lit a bit of fire under the boys and they started to play a little bit then, but I don't know, I can't sum it up.

“It's just, it's heartbreaking for the boys, you know the effort that they put in all year and just for it to end like that when really, we probably should have got something more out of it.”

Discipline

Stabannon subsequently regained a one-point lead following a two-pointer, but Sweeney felt lapses in concentration, and a costly breach ultimately proved decisive as Dunlavin fought back to secure their place in the semi-final.

“Yeah, we went ahead, but we seemed to just leave little gaps in behind because everybody's pushing up the whole time, and we left little gaps in behind, but it was really the breach that cost us in the end.

“All year we haven't been breaching because we're very hard on that training like you know there's no breaches and it doesn't happen, but when they're pushing there, the boys just lost a bit of concentration to breach and that's really what cost us in the end.”