Galway U20 football manager Kevin Johnson reflects on Connacht campaign
Galway U-20 football manager Kevin Johnson was proud that his side kept battling away in their 2-10 to 0-15 defeat to Roscommon in the Connacht semi-final on Wednesday evening.
“Extremely disappointed, it’s just the way that game went, it was over and back. Small margins, that’s the level you are at, you will be punished. The lads fought to the end, there was a stage where they could have easily thrown in the towel, I’m really proud of that, extremely disappointing because I know the work they have put in,” said Kevin Johnson.
The Tribesmen looked to be in control leading 0-12 to 1-4 at the start of the second-half.
“We made a switch there at half time because we knew the way they were trying to tag Ross (Coen), just try and get him into the game more around the arc position. He came out there and got those first three scores, momentum was with us, a bit of poor decision making gave the momentum back to Roscommon, we probably struggled on the kickouts.”
Roscommon began to squeeze the Galway kickout and got rewarded for their efforts. The Rossies outscored their opponents 1-6 to 0-3 in the final 26 minutes of the second half.
“It’s difficult to say, I suppose you will have to reflect. We did have chances, we did have opportunities and we got our hands on a lot of ball, sometimes at this level with the solo and go, younger players don’t use that composure, they just go at 100 miles an hour at times, it probably cost us and Roscommon punished us,” added Johnson.
“For us, it’s back to the drawing board. The great thing about U20 is they’ve got five games under their belt now and there has been a brilliant development year. We've been working with this group for just over five months, they have been absolutely brilliant. You see three lads involved now with the seniors, I’ve no doubt there is going to be more from this group playing senior football for Galway in the future.”
Johnson said it is important now for the players to push on when they go back to their clubs.
“We’ve just under half of the group underage again for next year, they’ll all go back to the clubs. It’s important that they try and get adult football now with the clubs whether it’s senior, intermediate or junior. We will be watching them now throughout the summer, I’m really looking forward to watch those lads progress into the senior ranks into the future," concluded Johnson.