Éire Óg up and running after first win in Division 1 Football League

Éire Óg manager Eoin Fehily says his side made 'extremely hard work of it' as they recorded their first win of the season by defeating Douglas 0-16 to 0-13 in Division 1 of the McCarthy Insurance Group Football Leagues at Ovens on Saturday.

Éire Óg were sweating it out in the end after a nine-point lead fell away during the closing stages.

Douglas chipped away and reduced the gap down to one, while nothing went the way of the home side as they chased an insurance score. 

Brian Thompson hit the post during this stretch and Sean Hurley saw a long-range effort fall just short, as the visitors won the ball back and pushed for an equaliser. The 18-year-old had one more shot in him and that went over the bar for a two-pointer that sealed the win for Éire Óg.

Fehily was a relieved figure after his side got the win, after a start to the season that has seen a draw with Castlehaven and a defeat to St Finbarr’s in Togher.

“It's nice I suppose after the start of the year we had a draw out here on the first night and we were unlucky to lose against the Barrs but they are who they are,” he said.

“Then coming over here against Douglas. It is great to get the two points but we did make extremely hard work of it. I suppose, the most important thing at any stage this season, whether you win, lose or draw it is about the performance and there's enough there to show that.” 

The performance comes from the work done on the training pitch by Carthach Keane, following the coach’s move to Ovens after being with the Cork U20s.

“With what Carthach is trying to do with the players is really being implemented in with our systems,” he explained.

“And again, a couple of phases of play against Douglas are what we are trying to move away from. The cheap turnovers and stuff. But it was a great forward display and the defence again shutting it out with no goals. It's great for us that way.” 

LEARNING CURVE

The most important thing for the manager and his coaching team are the lessons learned, and there were plenty as Douglas mounted a comeback many thought would be unthinkable midway through the second half.

There’s still going to be an inquest, but that’s not important to Fehily at this moment in time. All he is focusing on is the positives after seeing Éire Óg get the better of Douglas and record their first win of the league season.

“Hopefully will help us grow and we’ll keep progressing forward,” he said.

"Again I think Carthach grabbed the forwards by the scruff of the neck this week, we needed to be scoring more. We wanted 16 points, we got our 16 points, and maybe we could have had more. But again, the back line have been immense throughout.

We’ve drawn and lost one and the backline has been immense throughout. 

"It was just disappointing with the pressure that they were put under, especially during the second half of the second half.

“I don't know did the big lead kind of give us a nosebleed or something but we started getting under a lot of pressure when Douglas started coming.”