You’ll always find excuses if you want them

IT GOES without saying this is not how I had planned this column to read today.

Saturday’s Qualifier defeat by Offaly in Tullamore was seriously disappointing and signalled the end to what has been a frustrating season from both a personal and a team perspective.

After such a defeat, your mind is suffocated with a flurry of emotions — disappointment, shock, despair, disgust, confusion. All were present in our dressing room on Saturday evening and it wasn’t a nice place to be. Forlorn expressions illustrate a stark realisation that Championship aspirations have come to an abrupt halt and all the hours clocked up on the training field have just been flushed down the pan. Unexpected, as much as unprepared, words of thanks and appreciation are spoken to a crestfallen audience, the words washing over each player as they try to come to terms with the previous hour’s events.