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26th April 2017
04:39pm BST

"An understrength senior team travelled to Wolfe Tones on Sunday shorn of a number of key players..."It doesn't matter if you're insulting the boys who actually did play.
"Played out in boggy conditions on our hosts' training field (no reason given for the change in pitch), the seniors put in a spirited display to battle through the mud and, at times, the waterlogged surface."
"After a memorable result on the Bank Holiday Monday when the boys produced the best football the county will see for the rest of the year and shocked the province with a stunning victory over Emmet's, there wasn't exactly a lot of time to recover and prepare for Sunday's game given the county board squashed it in at the last minute to cover their own fixture mess."
"If the injury list, the lack of time between games and the dangerous underfoot conditions weren't enough, the seniors also had to battle against the elements with a howling gale-force wind blowing in their faces for the first half."
"Although Wolfe Tones would argue that they had most of the ball in that first half when the seniors were battling the breeze, the effort and commitment shown by every man in a blue jersey simply must be applauded. The back six were defending like Trojans and, when we got our running game going, they simply had no answer for us."The reader, of course, has no idea when exactly you did get your running game going. Remind them of the good times.
"The amount of work and desire displayed in such horrible conditions was sometimes hard to believe considering the six-day turnaround from the heroics of last Monday."Then, and only then, you can make any reference to how the game was actually going.
"The lads would've counted themselves extremely hard done by to go in at the break 10 points down."
"Of course, as only our luck would have it, the gale-force wind that was blowing in the team's faces completely died down by the start of the second half so any advantage we could've hoped for after the break was wiped."
"The boys showed great fight in the second half and definitely had the better of the exchanges. Despite the total dominance though, it wasn't translated to the scoreboard as the lads left their shooting boots at home and Wolfe Tones would've thanked their 'keeper for a couple of world class saves too to keep them in front."
"Just when it felt like we were making in-roads, a few questionable decisions went against the team and the home side rode their luck too with a stone-wall penalty claim somehow waved away by the referee much to the amazement of everyone in the ground - even the home support."
"With Rhino completely running the show in the second half, Wolfe Tones were hanging on to their lead and, when Bap and Monkman chipped in with fine points, it looked like the seniors were about to mount a phenomenal comeback."More good news.
"The biggest cheer of the day, however, was reserved for the introduction of big Horse who made his long-awaited return from injury and got stuck in straight away. No better man!"
"It wasn't to be our day in the end however and the final score flattered Wolfe Tones. There were loads of positives to take for the seniors going forward and, with the return of some key players back into the fold, the lads will surely get back to winning ways in no time. "Now, they'll look to more important matters with the championship next month and they'll take their good form into that first round clash. This was a good run-out though and important to get some of the fringe players valuable game time. "Final score: 4-16 to 0-8."
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