Senior Football Championship Relegation Play-Off
Saul 4-14 Liatroim 1-8
The Saul players had a muted response to their win over Liatroim on Saturday, which secured their Senior Championship status for another year.
Following their frustrating relegation to Division Two earlier this year, the team were keen to ensure they remained in the top tier of the championship. They did so in resounding fashion, but manager Kevin Murray said there was no necessity to celebrate the result.
“The players’ reaction was muted to a certain extent. Although it was important that we maintained our Senior Championship status, we really wanted to try to target the senior championship this year.”
Saul beat Liatroim by 15 points, though they trailed by a point at half-time.
“Liatroim have a lot of good players. We started well, then they got back into it. The referee kept the game flowing, but at critical stages we got our kick-outs away really well. We moved the ball quicker, and we got our key men in position, and we moved at pace effectively.”
The team played well because they knew what was at stake. Kevin added: “Philly Doran stood up for us. He’s stood up for us in a good lot of games. I think Pierce Laverty has been excellent. It can be difficult for a county player coming back in. I thought his leadership, coming back in after a tough county season, has helped the lads and he has led the way.
“As a group they showed desire and belief in each other and saw it out when they needed to. After a close enough first half — we went in a point down — we had a wee bit of wind behind us, but we put our marker down in the second half and finished the game really well.”
Saul found themselves in the play-off after losing two matches in a row in the Senior Championship. In round one, Saul lost to Carryduff by 11 points. In round two, they were beaten by Ballyholland by a single point, 1-13 to 0-17.
“It was disappointing. We were very unlucky in that game — I thought we played well. It was important that we lifted the boys after that because we had aspirations to get into a quarter-final or go as far as we could in the championship. That disappointment took a while to get over, but thankfully the boys played well and did well in the second half on Saturday.”
In the full story Kevin goes on to explain what held Saul back from achieving their goals this year.
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