Video: Barry Ward takes some perspective on Aodh Ruadh loss

When Barry Ward sat down with his Aodh Ruadh panel in the depths of last winter their aims for 2021 were drawn out.

Promotion from Division 2 and a being competitive in the Donegal SFC - their first appearance in the competition since 2010 - and maybe even a place in the quarter-finals would’ve made for a good year. 

That’s how it panned out although there was an obvious disappointment about how things panned out against St Michael’s, with Aodh Ruadh missing a couple of key players in Shane McGrath and David Dolan and then getting off to a poor start.

“Very disappointing,” Ward said. “Very bad start. We had four early chances and didn’t take any of them and it really put us on the back foot. St Michael’s are an experienced team. We responded well but it’s a massive learning curve.

“It’s been a massive 12 months. We won the Intermediate Championship, won Division 2 and came out of a very hard group in the Senior Championship. We’re here in a quarter-final, obviously disappointed, but let’s put a bit of perspective on it. It’s been a good 12 months.

“There’s a lot of teams in the relegation play-offs this weekend that wouldn’t have minded being in a quarter-final so we would have taken it surely. It’s been up and down for us. Look maybe the occasion and missing a couple of players got to us tonight. It’s a very steep learning curve and we’ll be better for it.” Watch the full interview below