DOWN manager Rónán Sheehan felt that London were never going to beat the home team in Páirc Esler on Saturday.
Nevertheless, there were parts of this round two game in the Joe McDonagh Cup that frustrated him.
“The way the game went, I don’t think London could have turned us over.
“We got a great start, looked as if we were going to cruise to victory and then seemed to become complacent.
“We gave away a few silly scores especially in the first half, stupid frees, as well as delivering ball into the wrong channels with London playing a sweeper.
“London looked like ourselves in (Division) 1B at times.
“They fought hard for everything and if you give a team like that a few chances they will stick with you and become more confident and maybe give you problems,” said the Newry Shamrocks man.
“We had a couple of chances to go maybe eight or nine points up during the second half and didn’t take them.
“We scored 2-24 and that would satisfy me most days, but conceding the two goals near the end was frustrating.”
Was there maybe complacency from the management in holding two starters from last week in reserves?
“Shea Pucci had a slight pull in his hamstring.
“Hopefully he will be back for the next game (against Carlow).
“Tim Prenter is very much a precaution.
“Tim is coming back from a long-term hamstring injury.
“We gave him 25 minutes last week (against Antrim).
“We felt that was his absolute limit.
“We took a chance today thinking we might not need him and that he needed more time to get things right.
“He was doing recovery runs today and I think he probably was doing more runs than he would have done in a match,” said Sheehan.
“Besides that, it has been a tough week family with the funeral of his uncle Eamon who died suddenly.
“So all in all we felt that Tim would benefit more from the rest today and again, like Shea, we are hoping that he will be fine for the Carlow game.”
With two players ‘rested’, the plus side was starts for both Cathal Coleman and Rónán Beatty.
Sheehan thought that the panel will benefit from the game time both received.
“You could see that Rónán’s match touch was a little rusty there during the 50 or 55 minutes he got.
“He has been a great focal point for us up front.
“So, having him get game time today was really important.
“Cathal Coleman is coming from a different angle.
“He’s only 19, came on for a short spell against Antrim.
“But he is a huge prospect for us going forward.
“When some people look at our team, they think they are aging.
“They have been together for six, seven, eight years.
“That’s not really the case.
“We have a good few lads in their early 20s and then Cathal coming along will further refresh the panel.”
Sheehan was already looking to the next challenge as he left Páirc Esler.
“We wanted two points here today.
“We got them.
“It doesn’t matter now how we got them.
“We are now sitting on four points.
“So, we should be safe from relegation at this stage and that’s a bit unusual for us.
“The five years we have been in the Joe McDonagh Cup, we have usually been fighting to stave off relegation in the last game or two.
“The next game is massive for us.
“Carlow at home.
“They are also on four points, unbeaten after two starts.
“Win that and we have a huge chance of reaching Croke Park.”
