Irvinestown player manager Shane Goan says he could not fault the effort and work rate of his players as they went down to Antrim champions Glenavy in the Ulster Club Junior Championship by the narrowest of margins on Sunday.

One point divided the sides in the end with Irvinestown having fought back from a poor start to take the lead in the second half.

A goal five minutes from time for Glenavy though was decisive and although the St. Molaise rallied again, they just ran out of time.

“Effort wise, I couldn’t fault the boys,” said Goan. “They showed great character to comeback when we were six points down early in the game. They boys stuck to the game plan and just kept working away and got us back into it. It was probably something similar to the Teemore game, we started slowly in that game too and went four or five points down but we clawed our way back. On Sunday we got back and got ourselves ahead but instead of going on to finish the game off we struggled a bit,” he added.

A goal from James Duffy had pushed Irvinestown three points clear in the second half but chances to increase that lead were not taken by the Fermanagh side.

“When we went three up we had two real good chances at crucial times to put four or five in it but we missed those,” said Goan.

And they were made to pay for those misses when Glenavy struck for goal.

“Their goal was a real sucker blow. I think there was only five or six minutes left at that stage and it was an uphill struggle after that although again the boys worked very hard after that to close the gap but it just wasn’t to be,” he commented.

The championship run may have come to a disappointing end for Irvinestown but Goan is keen for them to refocus quickly as the battle for promotion from Division Two reaches a conclusion.

Many would agree that a talented Irvinestown team will be among the favourites for promotion.

“I said to the players after the game that Ulster was done and dusted but we’ve had a good season to date and it would be a pity to squander it now. We would love to have given Ulster a rattle but we have to knuckle down again now because we still have a lot to play for in the league. We’ve Newtown this weekend and our focus is all on that and trying to get the points.”