A bad day at the office
I have always been very conscious of the fact that without the bad days the good days wouldn't be so good, writes Mick Wallace.
But knowing that doesn't really do much for you when the bad arrives. Of course it was disappointing to lose 3-0, even if Athlone were the better side.
The draw away to Monaghan and the win at home to Cobh amounted to a great start - the stuff that dreams are made of.
Of course a good beating was never going to be far away. I suppose the most disappointing element was the manner of the defeat. There are two aspects to it.
Firstly, we didn't really get the breaks on the day, and secondly we didn't deserve the breaks on the day.
Athlone were excellent in the first 20 minutes and were unlucky not to score. We weathered the storm, got into the game and began to look as if a result wasn't beyond us.
Then we gave away a poor goal from a free-kick that shouldn't have been awarded. The referee was a bit over-fussy and Athlone were more experienced at winning frees than ourselves.
Early in the second-half, we conceded a second. Our naivety was exposed again when Athlone won a free-kick, took it quickly and before we know it, one of their strikers was racing in on goal alone - 2-0.
The Wexford Youths rallied a bit - Johnny Flynn-O'Connor should have scored but didn't.
We introduced Jason Murphy, Diarmuid Fitzpatrick and Timmy Bolger in order to freshen things up a bit but it remained a difficult day.
Late in the game we lost 'keeper Jason Russell with a toe injury, had used our full quota of substitutes and were forced to play out the last ten minutes with ten men.
Johnny Flynn-O'Connor was doing fine, heading for a clean sheet, but just before the end, number three arrived for the home side.
It's not the end of the world even if it felt a little like it when I woke up this morning. The part that disappointed me the most was that, as a team, we didn't seem to be as well prepared mentally for the battle at hand as we had been the previous days.
As manager, I have to accept a large portion of the blame for that. It's very important that the players realise that there is just no room for any complacency on the field, or off it.
Nothing less than 100 per cent when it comes to training, liquid and food intake all week, getting the proper sleep and when the match arrives, playing for 90 minutes as if your life depends on it.
I know that there is more to life than football - I have five hectic days ahead of me right now and it has nothing to do with football.
But anything worth doing is worth doing to the very best of one's ability and I for one have no interest whatsoever in half doing anything.
I genuinely believe that we have a moral responsibility to always maximise our potential. Anything less is not good enough.
Sunday's League of Ireland game against Limerick 37 will kick off at 3.30 p.m.
On Monday, we play away to Waterford in the League Cup at 7.45 p.m.
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