Derry senior football team manager Mickey Harte. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Mickey Harte was disappointed that Derry weren't sufficiently clinical in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final against Kerry at Croke Park.
The Kingdom eventually earned a place in the last four, courtesy of a 0-15 to 0-10 success over Derry.
Following an Allianz Football League Division One triumph in March, Derry have endured Championship losses to Donegal, Galway, Armagh, and Kerry."As you would be well aware, it's a very sombre dressing room that we're in now," Harte remarked after the Kerry reversal.
"It's been a challenge to get back to the level that we had in the National League and we took a few games in the last few weeks to get a bit of confidence back again and I thought that confidence was very much back on the back of the result against Mayo.
"But, look, we were meeting an established team who are no strangers to all-Ireland quarter-finals, semi-finals and winning them.
"So, we had a tough battle out there and I felt that we did well up to the 60th minute or so, keeping in touch and when you consider that we held David Clifford and Sean O'Shea a pretty meagre return for their standards, you would have thought we had a reasonable chance of finishing the game out.
"I suppose we weren't efficient enough and clinical enough ourselves and it's not hard to guess that 10 points won't win many Championship matches in Croke Park."
What is Harte's assessment of Derry's campaign overall? "I'd say it was reasonable," Harte responds.
"Obviously, if you win Division One of the league, that's something to be happy about. Disappointing in Ulster in the Championship, disappointing in the round robin games.
"But the fact that we survived to reach a quarter-final here today, I suppose, makes it reasonable as well. But obviously, highly disappointing.
"We did intend to be back for a few more games here, at least one, maybe two, and that's not happening. And that's very disappointing because it's a long time to the beginning of the new season and it looks so far away now for everybody involved. But that's life and sport now. It's going to be over in the first half of the year."
