Paul McGuire proud of Bornacoola display despite bitterly disappointing defeat

Unless you end up winning the All-Ireland title, ever club sees their season end in defeat but it doesn’t make it any less painful as manager Paul McGuire admitted after Bornacoola’s loss to Ballymote Round Towers last Sunday in Markievicz Park.

The Sligo side hit the net twice either side of halftime to create a gap between themselves and Bornacoola as they finished with a 3-11 to 1-10 defeat but Bornacoola defiantly fought against the odds, despite the scoreline and losing three men to disciplinary issues on the day.

Yet despite the disappointment, Paul McGuire admitted that winning the Leitrim Junior crown was what mattered most in 2024 in Bornacoola: “We're bitterly disappointed in that dressing room there,” he told the Observer, “Look, we’re county champions at the end of the day and that's what matters most. This is bonus territory for any team that gets into Connacht.”

In fact, Paul was keen to stress his pride in his team’s defiance in the face of huge odds: “You couldn't be prouder of them. They're smashing a bunch of lads. The work rate, the commitment those boys give from not going to concerts or stag parties, whatever it be, you couldn't fault them. I mean, you couldn't be any prouder of them.”

And he stressed that Bornacoola have got to be looking to the future: “There is a huge blend of players there between youth and old lads. It's just important that the team sticks together now and  to give the Intermediate Championship a rattle next year, that'll be the big thing. You wouldn't have one or two lads thinking of retiring now. The team needs to stick together and push on.”

BATTLING BORNACOOLA PUSH BALLYMOTE ALL THE WAY

Analysing the game, Paul agreed that Ballymote’s goal before halftime was a huge factor: “Any time you get a goal before halftime, it sort of sucks the life out of a team. I’d be delighted myself if it was the other end that happened, but no, it does suck the life out of a team. You know, we were four down at that stage but I think we responded well enough.

“We got the next score on the board after that. We were just tit for tat. We could just never draw them close enough. When you go down two men for two red cards and then the black card there at the latter end of it, you were never going to put them any dents in their scoreline.”

Looking back on the game, Paul said “We probably were slow to start, made lots of mistakes in the first half and they punished us. We rallied well in the last five minutes of the first half there, we got back to within a point but Ballymote, fair play to them, really put it up to us in the second half

“And then, you know, when you go down three men with ten minutes or more to go and, look, it's a losing battle after that. Fair play to the lads, they fought well we got, I think we tagged down 1-2 or 1-3 there and we’re down one, two or three there and we're down those men.”