WITH two road trips to complete their Division Four schedule it's just as well that Antrim football captain Kevin O'Boyle is confident they'll "keep driving" towards their aim of promotion.
The Cargin clubman accepted that Sunday's home defeat by Carlow – who sealed elevation to Division Three for themselves – was "a hammer blow".
That leaves the Saffrons needing to win in Limerick next weekend, hope that Carlow don't lose at home to Laois, and then Antrim would need to win in Laois themselves a week later.
Despite the disappointment of defeat, O'Boyle looked forward rather than back, saying: "If we had won [against Carlow] we would still have had two big games ahead of us. Things are in the hands of other people so we just have to look after ourselves…
"Over the next couple of weeks we can't let this be a setback for us, we can't have our heads down, we have to drive on.
"We've two big games ahead of us and we have to view them as possible points on the board and still the possibility of promotion for us."
The 30-year-old will be happy if the Saffrons show the same spirit they displayed in the second half against Carlow, despite losing him to a black card and then Stephen Beatty to a straight red:
"Yeah, that heart we showed in the second half, if we had carried that in the first half as well it could have been a different result. We never gave up.
"It's been an excellent set-up this year and Lenny [Harbinson] and Brendan [Trainor] and the boys have all put that in place and everybody has bought into everything that they have done.
"I knew we wouldn't give up, I knew we would keep driving, and with that there in mind, I know that we'll keep driving over the next couple of weeks with Limerick and Laois ahead of us."
The Antrim captain was philosophical about those enforced losses of players due to cards of various colours, commenting: "You have to get ahead of a team like Carlow.
"Obviously the black cards and the red card didn't help us because you're down players and down men and you have to re-jig your team, but that's part of the game, at county football level you have to be able to adjust."
However, he laughed bitterly when quizzed more closely about his dismissal when Carlow midfielder Brendan Murphy appeared to drag him down:
"He's about four foot bigger than me! Listen, I put my body on the line, but it's just one of those things. The referee viewed it as I dragged him [Murphy] down and you have to accept that. You're not going to change his mind.
"It's just unfortunate for me that I couldn't be on the team to try and push them move and try and drive them in the last 20 minutes of the second half. I'll have to go back and review that myself, but it's disappointing.
He has no doubt that managerial review of the Carlow game will bring benefits: "It's very hard immediately after a game to analyse it and our management will have to watch the videos, but they're good at that, they're good at reviewing the performances. They told us to go back and we'll talk about it on Tuesday."
For now, he has a simple solution to resolve the problems and prepare for two 'must-win' matches over the next fortnight:
"Work harder. The only way you get luck on your side is by making the luck. Sometimes you just got to work harder and if the breaks aren't falling for you, you have to make them fall for you. That's about just putting in the hard yards.
"It's a hammer blow but you have to respond, and that's through sheer hard work. The boys did drive in the second half but once a team like Carlow gets ahead of you they won't give you many sniffs. You have to make sure if you get them, you take them.
"The luck and the breaks didn't go for us but in future we have to make those fall for us."
