No excuses from Barry Ward as Cavan better in second half

Donegal minor manager, Barry Ward, was not making any excuses after his side exited the Ulster championship against Cavan on Saturday in Breffni Park. Cavan came from a point down at half-time to win by five in the end.

Ward felt his side were good in the first half but didn’t take all the chances that came their way and he felt that was the difference in the end.

“After a poor start I thought we had a very good first half. We had three half chances of a goal and didn’t take any of them. I suppose in those circumstances you’re hoping that doesn’t come back to bite you.

“I think the first half was good but look, we just didn’t show up in the second half. And we were playing off scraps. That’s not the foundation you need to go on and win a game.

“We had a couple of chances at the end but I think our second half performance would not have deserved a result out of it,” said Ward.

The Ballyshannon man felt that his side could have taken points at times rather than trying to work a goal.

“There were a few times if we had come away with a couple of points at times maybe would have been the best choice. But look, those are the days, and the learnings that are in it.”

In the end it was Cavan who got the goal early in the second half and it was a decisive moment in the match.

“They got one chance (and took it). A couple of slips and a couple of decisions went their way. But look, that’s football. Their goal was the big score of the game; it gave them the platform to go on and win it.

“It was always going to be difficult (after the goal). We had a couple of two point chances and we got one. But we needed another one to get us really back into the game. We had a couple of other opportunities there too but we didn’t take them.”

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The Donegal boss feels that his young side can learn from the experience.

“They are young lads, 16, 17 years of age. It’s not nice. But Cavan, they’re minors as well and in the few decisive moments there, they were better in the second half.”

The defeat means Donegal will now enter the Tier 2 competition. They don’t know their opponents yet but they do know that they will be playing next weekend.

“Look, it’s probably the last thing the boys want to hear, but it’s part of their development. They’ve got to shake themselves off. We’ll train Monday and Wednesday and go at it again on Saturday and see where the draw takes us. It’s a quick turnaround,” said Ward.