CORK MANAGER JIMMY Barry-Murphy had no qualms with Brian Gavin’s decision to allow Clare one last attack in Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling championship final.
Gavin informed fourth official James Owens that there would be two additional minutes at the end of the game.
But when Clare goalkeeper Patrick Kelly pucked out the ball following what looked like a winning Cork point from Patrick Horgan, 72 minutes and three seconds had elapsed.
A gracious Barry-Murphy reflected: “Look, it’s the referee’s call. There were a couple of decisions that might have gone our way. I have no criticism, thought the referee was excellent on the day.”
JBM admitted that Cork were hanging on for long periods as Clare boss Davy Fitzgerald got his match-ups and tactics spot on.
JBM said: “I thought the game was drifting away from us once or twice. “That’s why I thought they (Cork) showed great spirit. I’m thrilled with the lads for their spirit.”
He added: “It was like the Dublin game, when you are involved in it it’s very hard to be on the sideline.
“I thought it was a great occasion, great match, some great scores from both sides and Clare were brilliant on the day.
“I’d have to be honest and say it’s a fair result. It’s a fair result from our point of view because they might have edged it probably. But our lads showed great character when they looked to be struggling in a lot of places, the commitment they showed and the spirit they showed, I am very proud of that.
“I thought at one stage when they were four points ahead with ten minutes to go we were struggling to get the ball down the field and Clare were playing with great enthusiasm, great spirit and there was great pace to their game. They are a credit to their manager in fairness to them.”
Barry-Murphy also stated that he wasn’t surprised to see Clare setting up in a more conventional fashion, after the Banner County’s sweeper system stifled Galway and Limerick.
He reflected: “All-Ireland finals take on a life of their own. Different tactics for different days and they didn’t do much wrong in fairness to them.”
Goal glut
Having registered just one goal in the championship previous to All-Ireland final Sunday, Cork scored three in one half of hurling.
But JBM insisted that he was never worried about not scoring goals on a consistent basis.
“Yeah, I have said this before,” he said.
“I never worry when I hear this talk of us not getting goals. We have got to an All-Ireland final (so) we mustn’t be doing too much wrong. Goals tend to come at times when you need them. Lucky for us, they came when we badly needed them.”
Those goals kept Cork in contention as the Rebels had finished the first half with four of their six forwards scoreless.
JBM acknowledged: “Clare’s half-backs were very strong today, they are an excellent team, strong under the ball and we found it hard to get the ball into our inside forward line.
“But credit to our lads, they were struggling but stuck at it. All of them stuck at it and they showed great pride and great passion to come back and fashion a good result for us as we were struggling in lots of departments in the game.”
JBM confirmed that Cian McCarthy picked up an ankle injury that forced him to come off just minutes after he was introduced as a substitute in the second half.
