THREE games and three defeats is no call for concern for Teconnaught ladies’ football manager Joe Napier.
Teconnaught are joint bottom of Division Two after three games, but Joe explained why he is confident they will be competitive as the year progresses.
“We have had a rough three games. We lost by two points, two points and three points.
“We wanted a better start, but we have been competitive.
“We know that when we have our best team out there, there is no one we fear.”
On Sunday past, Teconnaught played league leaders Saul. While they lost by 2-5 to 0-8, Joe said there was a lot to be pleased about from their perspective.
“We controlled the game for long periods,” Joe said.
“We were leading 4-2 at half-time. Then they got two goals in a two-minute spell and that just left us with too much to do.
“We were five down and brought it back to three. We could have got an equaliser close to the end, but that didn’t happen.
“But it was a very competitive game and there wasn’t much in it.”
The issue, according to Joe, is they have not had a settled squad. For example, on Sunday past, Teconnaught played with three U-16s. Plus they used three minors against Rostrevor last Thursday.
Joe said, “We have had to dip out of that due to unavailability.
“We have used 29 players, including six debuts.
“We have went through an awful lot of players through injuries, holidays and unavailability.
“It has been topsy turvy. We have not put our strongest team out yet.”
Last Thursday they lost to Rostrevor by 2-10 to 3-9. But it was a game they could have won.
“Rostrevor have a lot of experienced players and have been around the upper divisions longer than we have.
“In the Rostrevor game we had two very good chances for goals at the end, and we could have stolen it.”
Chasing the game was something that also happened in the first round of the league when Teconnaught lost to Warrenpoint, 3-9 to 2-9.
“Against Warrenpoint, they were chasing a 12-point deficit, against Rostrevor we were chasing a nine-point deficit. But ended up losing by two points in both games.
“Against both Warrenpoint and Rostrevor we could have stolen the game.
“I thought the girls performed well against two teams who have been around a bit. Warrenpoint played an Ulster final 15 months ago.”
Despite those three results, Joe explained that the team are feeling optimistic.
“There is plenty of fight in them. They don’t give up.”
Teconnaught play Loughinisland on Thursday April 23, in Teconnaught at 7pm.
