Fermanagh manager, Malachy O'Rourke didn't hide his disappointment at Sunday's set-back, not least conceding those three Wexford goals, but he told the 'Herald' he now hoped that it would help the squad, 'and make us work that wee bit harder and realise there is still a lot of work to be done'.
No, he wouldn't be passing any remarks on the generally agreeable media reaction to what was an entertaining high-scoring (3-15 to 0-20) 90-plus minutes' encounter. Instead, he preferred to put forward his own thoughts.
"Disappointed, but that's the way things go. I was pleased with many aspects of it. I thought the boys showed great character and, in a final like that, to concede two goals in the first lock of minutes, it would have been all to easy for them to say, 'it's not our day'.
"In fairness, that didn't happen. They kept battling and at halftime we got ourselves back into the game. Even in the second-half, we played well again and fought back to force extra time and we were going well in extra time and then conceded a very bad goal.
"On the day you go out and concede three goals, you're going to have to do an awful amount of work to win the game and, I suppose, the higher level you're playing at and conceding goals like that, you're going to be in trouble.
"That was the one thing we have talked about. It wasn't that the county was beaten, it was the three mistakes from which Wexford got their goals and that, unfortunately, was a big cause of our defeat".
On a more upbeat note, he said that while the players too were as disappointed as he was, it should not be forgotten what they had achieved.
"It was especially disappointing for them because they got to the final, they had put in a tremendous effort and they had won four away games. We had gone down expecting to win and, now, it is hard for them to realise when you concede scores like that you're not going to win the game".
As for Wexford, he said Fermanagh found it hard to beat them last time out, and he had no complaints other than those goals conceded.
"In fairness, when they got the chance at the start of extra time and the goal, they pushed on ahead. So, there's no point complaining about things that happened or could have been done differently. The bottom line is, we now regroup and, hopefully, learn from it. At the start of the year, our number one aim was to get promotion. We achieved that and, OK, it was disappointing we didn't follow it up and win the title".
He said that, between now and the Ulster Championship game with Monaghan on 25th May, he said, it would be a matter of tightening up in various areas.
"Yesterday reinforced that. It's just a matter of getting heads down and using the next four weeks wisely, analysing what went wrong and taking action to prevent it happening again".
Yes, he said, the League campaign had enabled a lot of new faces to show their paces and some had done very well. Injury-wise, he reported no set-backs from Parnell Park, apart from the usual wee knocks, and while it would take a few days for the players to get over the disappointment, they were very heartened by the support they got in Dublin.
"They had it all throughout the League and, yesterday, the support got behind the team at various stages when it was needed. That makes a massive difference to everyone involved and I just hope that it comes to the fore on the 25th (May). It can make a big difference to the boys when they're trying to get a win".
Over the coming weeks, O'Rourke will have to trim his 35-strong panel down to 30 as is required under Championship rules, but he revealed that any of the five cropped from the squad would still be in the running for selection for the '30' if needs be.
"In that way, we'd be hoping to keep the full panel together".
