ONLY sport can bring so much joy for one group whilst at the same time bringing so much desolation to another. In order for there to be a dramatic winner, there has to be a dramatic loser and unfortunately for Athy that was the role they filled on Sunday.
Athy manager Brian Cardiff speaks with Hugh Mahon
Photo: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne
“It’s still very raw for us in terms of losing,” said manager Brian Cardiff.
“As a game of a football, I’m sure for the neutral that it was something special to watch, it was very competitive all the way through it and there was never more than two or three points in it. There were times when we looked like we had it and we were in control and were about to pull away but fair play to Sarsfields, they kept coming back and I wouldn’t take anything from them,” he added.
“Over the last five or six weeks we’ve been encouraging lads to go forward, go after games and try win them on the scoreboard, to try outscore other teams. Up to today, that was working for us and barring a few small occasions for us today, it very nearly worked out,” said Cardiff.
The dismissal of Conor Tiernan should have given Athy an advantage but as so often happens, it was the team going down to 14 men that actually got the boost.
“It’s a strange one and the football experts are yet to figure out why it works out that way. Certainly, what probably should have been a momentum swinger for us, turned in Sarsfields’ favour. I suppose games by their nature have a pattern and they form a pattern regardless of your best laid plans before the game. We didn’t cope that well with the extra man but at the same time, with 60 minutes on the clock we were a point up. If you said that before the game we’d have been happy but we just didn’t see it out today,” he said.
There were plenty of moments for Athy to reflect back upon, none more so than when Hugh Mahon shot wide when the scores were level in injury time but Cardiff refused to blame his forward.
“We had a chance to go one ahead when it was in injury time and we got into a position where we’d encourage lads to shoot. We’ve emphasised with the lads over the last five or six weeks to make decisions on the field if you feel it’s the right decision. The ball went wide but I’d still maintain that it was the right decision to shoot from there,” said Cardiff, before tipping his team to come back even stronger.
“There’s an awful lot left in this team. The guys are obviously very down at the moment, it’s very raw and it’s very sore at the moment but there’s certainly more to come from this Athy team.”
