Messages

I thought mcwilliams was unlucky not to win two penalties.
1st half after taking on 2 men along the line i thought he was fouled.
2nd half, ball was on the deck inside the box, looked like he got a toe to the ball then was floored.

St Pat's a bit naive pushing up so early in the 2nd half. I think it as the 4th goal - came from a long kick out which by passed the midfield, straight to quinn who outpaced his man and gave a simple lay off. If half back line had of stayed, no goal.

I do agree - he got some rough treatment second half. I was just hoping he'd be the sort to not let it get to him but to spur him on (it's expecting a lot from a young fella, to be fair).

Serious skill though. Happy to strike with either foot, too.

I always enjoyed championship games in Bellaghy, to be fair.  And I need an excuse to visit The Taphouse...

Anyway, regarding the game, it was a team of good individuals versus a good team (I am not denigrating the Convent - they have some damn fine footballers too, there's no obvious weak spots on that team, just agreeing with others that they were better coached and had a gameplan)

St Pat's defence was woeful, the forwards did reasonable damage for a while but started going for goals far too early (trying all sorts of nonsense with 10 mins left and a man up, if they'd kicked 3 or 4 easy enough points who knows what would have happened). The McWilliams fella at full forward is one of the most talented forwards you'll see but I was a bit concerned at how he reacted when the chips were down, he lost the temper a bit.

McAtamney was an absolute beast in the middle. And he needed to be, because the Convent keeper has a bigger kickout than 95% of the senior keepers in the county.

St Pat's defence was absolutely brutal. Never seen so many soft goals conceded at that level before.

It's tough going but this was always going to be a project and not a quick-fix.  As rubbish as the first half sounded on the commentary, the second half showed fight if nothing else.

Very, very young and inexperienced squad. The Slaughtneil boys will be a big plus if the expected lads decide to make themselves available. Chrissy and Rogers transform that defence instantly, and by a huge amount, in addition to the other players they have who would make that squad on ability.

I thought it was too soon to be giving that job to McErlain but he has it now and I think we have to give him 3 years and see how it goes. I don't agree with some of his player selections (and, probably more so, de-selections) on this panel, but I'm assuming he has a reason and a plan for them.