Termon still very much on a real SFC learning curve admits Caolan McDaid

Caolan McDaid says his Termon side continues to learn on its feet as they quickly turn attention to another SFC clash with champions St Eunan’s on Saturday.

Last term’s IFC title winners were edged out on their own patch last weekend by the defending champions on a scoreline of 3-12 to 1-15.

READ NEXT: Barry Meehan hopes St Eunan's getting act together at just the right time 

Indeed, it was Termon’s scoring difference in the end that saw them just about avoid a relegation scrap at the expense of Glenfin.

“Sometimes you have to be realistic too and reflect on where you are at,” McDaid said immediately after the St Eunan’s loss.

“We are up from intermediate. We won the county Gaeltacht for the second time in the club’s history and won the Division 1 league title for the first time ever.

“But it continues to be a real learning curve in the senior championship”.

Reflecting on the manner in which he feels they lost last weekend’s fourth and final group encounter, McDaid said it was a combination of things. But they are all areas that can be worked upon.

“We played really good football in spells. They took control for ten minutes at the start of the second half and got away from us and that ultimately won the game for them.”

Termon picked up two black cards in the course of the 60 minutes. Midfielder Aaron Reid was shown the first black five minutes before half-time.

And Ryan McFadden went to the sin bin down the stretch and only returned to the action in the closing seconds of injury time.

“We played 20 minutes of that game with 14 men due to black cards so we were disappointed with our discipline.

“We didn’t have Aaron for the first five minutes of the second half. Aaron is a big powerhouse for us around the middle of the field.”

McDaid was also annoyed with the concession of three first-half goals and that damning stat will have to improve if they are to upset the odds this time out.

“Two, if not the three, were our own fault. I thought we started the game really well. I thought we showed good character at times against one of the best club teams in Ulster

“We scored 1-12 in the first half, which is a lot of scoring but it’s down the other side that we need to find an improvement upon.

“We have a very young team. Most of the boys who played this evening are in the 21 to 22 years of age bracket so they still have a lot of learning to do.

“But they are a serious group of players and they will take on board the learning from all of this.”