CLARE MANAGER DAVY FITZGERALD was not getting drawn into specifics but believes his ‘small fish’ team were harshly treated to deny them victory in the All-Ireland final.
Clare’s players felt Cork defender Shane O’Neill should have been sent off in the first-half of their drawn clash at Croke Park. O’Neill swatted at Darach Honan’s helmet but referee Brian Gavin opted to yellow card both players. The Banner also had two 20-yard frees and a penalty awarded against them in the 0-25 to 3-16 draw.
“People aren’t blind out there,” Fitzgerald told RTÉ. ”So, just leave it at that and we’ll have to go to battle again and we will go to battle.”
Asked by reporter Claire McNamara if he wanted to elaborate on any perceived grievances he may have, Fitzgerald responded ‘No, no, no.” However, as he expanded on the game and praised his player’s commitment, the Clare boss revisited some of the game’s more contentious issues.
“We had it won a few times and they kept being brought back into it,” he said. “That’s the way it goes, isn’t it? We’re only the small, little fish out there and we’re trying hard to make it through but how do you get the breaks when you’re a small fish?
Fitzgerald admitted that Domhnall O’Donovan, who scored the last-gasp equaliser, would not have been his first-choice player to have the sliotar with the game on the line. O’Donovan ‘did the business’ and his coach is now faced with three more weeks of scrutiny and training sessions before the two sides do it all again at Croke Park.
Fitzgerald is expecting Cork to throw the kitchen sink at his men, yet again, on 28 September but has vowed that his small fish will continue to swim against the tide.
