'We just didn't perform, we didn't get our game together' - Conor O'Donoghue

MANAGERS VIEW

JIMMY GEOGHEGAN

Somedays it just doesn't happen for teams in a final. You prepare in the best possible way, try to make sure every item is ticked, then it just doesn't happen, the spark is missing, the mojo absent. Sometimes there's no obvious reason for that, sometimes there are underlying causes that can be identified.

Dunboyne manager Conor O'Donoghue was not looking for any excuses or scapegoats after his team's defeat on Sunday. "We just really didn't perform, we didn't get our game together, we conceded a goal at the start and we were playing catch up from there."

In picking the team for Sunday's showdown the Dunboyne manager and his selectors took a calculated risk. They went with a number of regulars who were carrying knocks.

"We went into the week with a couple of fellows who maybe wouldn't have played if it was any other game other than a county final. We had to take some chances on that and it really didn't work out for us and as the game went on that probably had an impact on our performance.

"Ronan Jones, Cathal Finn had unfortunately done his hamstring on the Tuesday before we made a decision and did some work around it but it didn't quite work out, and Jack Donnelly was the same so all of those to different degrees didn't see the game out, Ronan did in the end but yeah that's where were found ourselves."

"We started the second-half quite well again and got a couple of extra knocks we didn't need, but to be fair to Wolfe Tones they played very well, they played with great spirit and you couldn't take away from their performance and their victory.

"We didn't perform in the way we like to perform, missed a lot, poor handling errors at times when we needed to hold onto the ball at times, but look it congratulations to Wolfe Tones they won and deserved their victory."

The Dunboyne manager referred to how defensively organised Wolfe Tones were and just how difficult it was to break them down. On other days Dunboyne's formidable attacking prowess might have found a way around their opponent's defensive battlements. Not on this occasion.

So Dunboyne, who were never defeated in a SFC final before Sunday, lost out but they can still look back on a significant year. O'Donoghue congratulated the ladies for their success in winning their senior title again and was just deeply disappointed the double could not be completed.

He felt the cookie just didn't crumble for his team in recent weeks when ill luck struck and certain key players picked up knocks. Managers often have to take risks of one kind or another but for Dunboyne they just didn't work out on this occasion.

"We probably didn't get the rub of the green we needed in the last two or three weeks but that's sport, you need your best players fit and available, that didn't quite happen for us in the way we would have liked. We played some very good football along the way we just didn't do ourselves justice in the final, that's the disappointing part."