Having missed the last two league matches, I had hoped that my presence on the line with notebook in hand might bring our lads a bit of luck. I brought them luck alright but the wrong kind! Overall this was not a good match for us, although we did enjoy a few good moments in the second half.

St Pats went on the attack from the throw in and clocked up three quick points without reply. We had to wait until the 12th minute for our first score, a two pointer coming from the trusty boot of Leon Reynolds. Leon got another point shortly after and that was the sum total of our scores for the first half. Pats meanwhile clocked up an impressive 1-11, leaving us a mountain to climb in the second half. Speaking of mountains, I understand that our lads had a "bonding session" climbing the Sugar Loaf last weekend. Based on the first half performance they may head for Croagh Patrick.

Newcastle improved significantly in the second half and started to show glimpses of what they are capable of. We had three more points from Leon, three from Sean McLeavy, an excellent point from Cloaky and a blistering goal from Warren. Alas too much damage had been done in the first half.

Great to see Doyler back in the jersey. He didn't get on the score sheet but he did show one very fancy move when a ball hopped above his head. It was a pirouette straight out of Swan Lake.

Arthur also made a comeback but it was a brief guest appearance. It was a case of "Great, Arthur is back...and.....oh no, he's gone again!" We hope he's ok after that nasty looking injury.

Philly McDermott was having an entertaining love/hate encounter with the Pats number 13, who was doing a lot of damage. I've been told his name is Stephen Duffy and apparently he's something of a county legend (and that's not just his own opinion). Either way he didn't appreciate Philly's jocularity.

Big thanks to John and Damo for doing umpires. St Pats scored so many points against us in the first half that the white flag broke in half from excess waving, with  poor Damo left waving a stump.

The lack of ball barriers at the clubhouse end was causing problems with loss of footballs. This clearly annoyed our caretaker Murt who decided to pursue one ball through the trees. After a few minutes Murt's head emerged from the buses to declare angrily "It's gone into the shit tank".

Yes it was a poor defeat today but we've been here before. Things looked grim last year until one lovely sunny evening in Tinahely when we carved out a great win and it turned everything around. I am confident we will turn this season around as well. It just takes a bit more effort and a bit of patience.

Keep an eye out for the next one and...keep the faith!