Neil McManus: 'That one will sting for a while' says Dall skipper after defeat

Neil McManus says Cushendall's All-Ireland Club Hurling semi-final defeat will "sting for a while" after his side were edged out 1-17 to 1-16 in Navan by O'Loughlin Gaels in a dramatic finish.

Dall were left to rue several missed chances including a McManus shot which flew wide in the closing seconds.

"If I had taken the chance at the end - it's an 80 per center - you're going to extra-time," McManus said ruefully.

But Dall missed a string of even better chances during the second period.

Having had an early eight-point lead wiped out as the Kilkenny men led for the first time at 1-15 to 1-14 after 51 minutes, Cushendall dominated the next three minutes of action as Eoghan Campbell, who had struck two magnificent first-half points, Fergus McCambridge and Ed McQuillan fired wides during a period which saw substitute Sean McAfee also spurn a potential goal chance as he failed to control a pass from McManus.

And after O'Loughlin Gaels skipper Mark Bergin doubled his team's lead in the 54th minute, the previously outstanding Paddy Burke missed another glorious chance as Cushendall's scoreless period dragged on to 17 minutes before being finally ended by a point from goalscorer Joseph McLaughlin.

A thumping point from McManus then levelled matters in the second of minute of injury-time and while David Fogarty immediately restored the Leinster champions' lead, the Cushendall veteran then had a difficult chance over his shoulder from near the left sideline with time nearly up only to see his shot go agonisingly wide.

'We didn't play to our potential' - McManus

As he held his toddler daughter Aoibhinn after the final whistle at Pairc Tailteann, McManus said Cushendall's failure to "play to our potential" is the thing that will rankle most with the players.

"That was probably one of our worst performances throughout the championship," added the Dall skipper

"It was that type of game. It was nervy. A lot of frees and both teams making plenty of mistakes."

In spite of that, McManus said the club "will be very proud of those lads".

"They are a great representation of our club even when we didn't play well. They kept going right to the end.

"We knew we would not stop but O'Loughlin Gaels have the same about them in fairness.

"They have that kind of attitude where they will try and grind it out and they were holding on at the end but we couldn't punish them.

"They have probably been slightly fortunate but at the end of the day, I don't begrudge them it. They got over the line."

A post-match talking point was Tipperary referee Michael Kennedy's decision not to even yellow card O'Loughlin Gaels' Conor Heary for an apparent frontal shoulder into Ryan McCambridge midway through the second half but while McManus admitted he was "flabbergasted" by that call, he didn't make a major issue about it.

"Previous to that, Ruairi McCollum shipped a very heavy shoulder to the head but look...... so long as those tackles are made in earnest and made in an attempt to play the ball, I think the referee's right.

"We don't want to see teams getting people sent off and the game is played with aggression and physicality because that's why this sport is so special.

"It's a warrior sport and that's how we want to keep it."

O'Loughlin Gaels skipper Mark Bergin, who like McManus delivered a 0-9 tally for his team, admitted he "absolutely relieved" to hear the final whistle.

"It was seriously tough. We knew coming up to Navan today it was going to be an absolute battle and that's what it was," added Bergin.

"They hit us with absolutely everything in the first 10 minutes and that's credit to them. They are a proud, proud club and we have nothing but the utmost respect for them.

"To be going into Christmas looking forward to an All-Ireland Club Final, it's absolutely special. It's hard to put into words to be honest," added Bergin, after his team-mates' joyous post-match celebrations which demonstrated the battle they had just been involved in.