Cian Sheehan admits that the Limerick footballers have let themselves down as they bid to redeem their season against Clare on Saturday.
Limerick suffered a turbulent League campaign in Division Two as they failed to pick up a win and were relegated, with manager Ray Dempsey departing after their draw with Meath in round five.
Coach Mark Fitzgerald stepped up but couldn’t stop the rot as they lost to Kildare and Clare in their closing games but they meet the Banner again at the TUS Gaelic Grounds this weekend in the Munster semi-final, where a win would lift them out of the Tailteann Cup and into the All-Ireland group stages.
Sheehan, who was nominated for an All Star last year as Limerick won promotion and reached the Munster final, admits that the recent run of defeats has wiped out much of the momentum that they had built up under Billy Lee’s management.
He said: "It definitely has an impact. You'd be lying if you said otherwise. Football, more than a lot of sports, is very much a momentum game.
“Last year we did well. We won more games than not and we felt we were building on that. That lifts confidence and it lifts the mood. It brings all these different positives, whereas now we're looking at the opposite end of it. But I think we've drawn a line in the sand now.
“We got back together this week, we're moving on, we're looking to make some minor tweaks and build from there. Hopefully the rest of the season will have an upward trajectory from here."
They may have experienced two changes of manager since the end of last season but the turnover in terms of playing personnel hasn’t been nearly as disruptive.
"We have pretty much the same players there,” Sheehan noted. “We've shown in spells what we're capable of in a lot of the games.
“But overall we've let ourselves down as players. We're all aware of that but the positive thing is that we think we know what we need to do to change that. It's up to us now to try and pull something out of the bag.
“Mark has a good understanding of the players and he knows the rest of the management. He was our head coach. He's a great man so we're looking forward to what's to come with him.”
As for the prize on offer this Saturday, he said: "It's very interesting for us. After a fairly dismal League campaign, one game could completely turn the season around. And even if it doesn't, there's still the Tailteann Cup.
“When you look at what it did for Westmeath last year, they got a great campaign out of it and it gave them a lot of momentum."
Sheehan endured a long season with club and county last year as Newcastlewest went all the way to the Munster club final, losing narrowly to Kerins O’Rahillys in December, though he explained how it was a car accident in January that took most out of him, albeit nobody involved suffered any serious injuries.
"I came back nice and fresh and played away in the McGrath Cup. I actually had a good game against Tipp but then managed to get in a car crash on the way home. Then I kind of struggled for a couple of weeks with a few niggles and injuries.
“It's only now that I feel like I'm starting to come back to where I was before it. Normally you'd be wrecked after a club campaign but I had a nice break before it and then just small things like that can throw you on your backside."
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