Mark Mullins: Na Piarsaigh will keep working hard to build for championship

THREE goals separated Na Piarsaigh and Sarsfields when they clashed in round 4 of the Red FM hurling league on Saturday evening. 

Afterwards Na Piarsaigh manager, Mark Mullins, was in a philosophical mood. 

While acknowledging that Sars had performed well, he was disappointed in how the Sars goals came from mistakes from his side, and it was those mistakes that ultimately put them into a hole they couldn’t climb out of. 

It would have been easy for the northsiders to roll over after conceding four goals, but Mullins was also happy with how they acquitted themselves after those setbacks.

“They are county champions, and they showed that. They were very slick, and hats off to them, they got some good scores in the second half. "But I think that they capitalised on our mistakes. We shored up the defence and eliminated those mistakes in the second half and were more competitive in the second half. 

"So, I’m happy with the second-half performance. The team are working hard, so we’ll have to drive on from here.

“We spoke about that at half time. The first half wasn’t good enough on our home patch, we knew we had to up our game in the second half, and we did. 

We stuck at the things that we’re good at, and we won the second half, but that doesn’t really matter because we didn’t win the match.” 

Daire Connery watched the game from the sideline after recently undergoing knee surgery, and the sheen of Na Piarsaigh’s second-half revival was clouded by a knee injury sustained by Adam Hogan. 

The treatment room is filling up, and while Mullins recognises that that also creates opportunities for other players, his mind was focused on Hogan in particular.

“Injuries haven’t been good to us, but I suppose other teams are in the same boat so it’s an opportunity for other fellas to step up, and that’s what we’re looking for, a wider panel. But we picked up another nasty injury there in the second half. I hope Alan is okay, but it doesn’t look great.” 

The sun was shining in Páirc Uí Chonaire, and the change in weather attracted a nice crowd to the game. 

But there is no doubt that the long and harsh winter has made an impact on the preparation of all teams. 

Thus, some mistakes are inevitable, and Mullins’s mantra is to just keep on working hard and to keep on sticking to the process. Everything, including the weather, will improve.

“No, it’s not hopping but we are training hard and we’re trying hard. Some things didn’t work for us, but it’s a few more months before the championship. 

"We’ll keep working. Everyone is in the same boat, the pitches haven’t been great, and it’s showing, but hopefully over the next few weeks it’ll get better.”