Tullow’s hopes of reaching the Bank of Ireland Provincial Towns Cup final were dashed with a 33-39 loss to Athy on Sunday.
Tullow were hoping to clinch a third consecutive Towns Cup final place.
Speaking to KCLR Sport after the match, former Leinster and Ireland back row Sean O’Brien reflected on how his team was prepared for a tough challenge against Athy, but ultimately felt their own mistakes let them down.
“We knew that they were good, we spoke about that, they’re a dangerous side. I just said to the lads in the group, they’ll be very disappointed looking back on that game. I don’t think Athy tore us apart or anything, it was all from loose kicks and silly things from us”.
Sean O’Brien highlighted his disappointment with the effort from some players in the first half, stressing that intensity and commitment are qualities that can’t be taught.
“I’d question some of our lads work rate in that first half, some of starters and I said it to them. I thought a lot of lads were walking around today. You can’t coach lads to work hard”.
Despite Tullow’s chances to make a late comeback, O’Brien highlighted that small errors in key moments prevented them from taking advantage.
“Look a little bit too late today, we had opportunities. We get within a score at the end, we have three opportunities down here and a big turnover as well from not placing the ball right. Small margins in big games”.
The Bank of Ireland Provincial Town’s Cup final will see Athy take on Carlow in Naas on Sunday, April 27th, at 3pm.
Article by Hannah Sharpe
