Douglas hurlers impressing in league but focus is on 'work-rate and honesty of effort'

Douglas made it four wins from five as they got the better of Fr O’Neill’s in their RedFM Division 1 Hurling League clash on Friday night.

The visitors had to withstand an O’Neill’s second-half comeback to eventually win by 0-21 to 0-17. In fairness to O’Neill’s, they can’t be faulted for their efforts over the hour, but overall Douglas were the better side and were deserving winners on the night.

The margin could have been bigger were it not for a superb double save by O’Neill’s keeper, Paudie O’Sullivan, as he showed why he is part of the Cork set-up now.

As you'd expect, Douglas boss Ken St Leger was content with their efforts. It wasn’t the result that he was delighted with, but the performance of his side, especially when they came under pressure in the second half.

“We're delighted with the performance, just as a performance, all told,” said St Leger.

“We were under pressure in the second half, and this is never an easy place to come and get a result. 

I think for the last few years, we haven't got a result here at all.

“We were under pressure; we were hit with four points after half-time, and the game was a draw. We could have crumbled there, but, you know, when we talk about performance, that last 10 minutes when we had to go to the well and dig it out, that's what we were happiest with.

“We were in the fight, we stayed in the fight, and we came out on top because we just kept working and kept sticking to the plan.

“One of the things we've been talking to lads about since the start of the year is work-rate. Work-rate, effort, honesty of effort. We're not concentrating on the scoreboard, we're looking for the performance.

“We're looking to do the right things, we have a way of playing, we want them to make the right decisions, and we did that.

“Maybe we lost our way for a little bit in the second half when the pressure came on, and we needed a bit of time to reset. But once we got tuned into it again, we came back into it.

RESILIENT

“That bit of resilience is coming to the fore now, and that's what we're trying to put into the lads. There's a way of playing to stay consistent with it, and the performance will tell then.”

St Leger and his fellow selectors are not getting carried away, and even though they might be top of the league for now on scoring difference, he knows it’s all about building for the championship.

Four wins out of five is fantastic, but it's not looking at the scoreboard, it's not concentrating on that, it's making sure we're doing the right things. 

"We're bringing it back to training, we'll look at the game again, take it back into our training, and plan our training around things we need to work on.

“It’s all about building for the championship, and that’s when you have to be at your best, as that’s when it really matters.”