St Finbarr's flew the Cork football flag with pride

IN the end, a five-point winning margin flattered Kilcoo in the AIB All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday, but nothing should detract from a brave St Finbarr's performance.

“The first thing I'd say is that I am very proud of the lads and we are still Cork and Munster champions,” said disappointed manager Paul O'Keeffe afterwards.

“Kilcoo have been at this level for a bit longer and I think it told. They had the legs on us in extra-time, but up until then it was ding-dong.

“Mind you it could have been over a bit sooner than it was but for the brain freeze at the end of normal time, when they had a man sent off.

“I didn't think it was a free in the first place but we're splitting hairs now because the game is gone from us.

“Still, it was a brilliant effort from the lads. We've been on a roller-coaster ride and maybe we go to the well once too often.” 

The Barrs made a mockery of their 4/1 odds and answered the critics with their display.

“In fairness, they left it all out there on the pitch especially as we had been written off in some quarters but I think it showed Cork football in a strong light.

People were saying that we were tactically naive which I thought was really unfair but we represented Cork football in the manner in which it should be represented.

“We've learned from it. I think if you look back on the year overall we can take heart from breaking down defensive structures.

“I didn't think Kilcoo set up defensively as they would normally do so they probably gave us more space than we anticipated.

“But, overall there's a lot we can take from a learning point of view and I think we will be in a much stronger position going forward.” 

When the Barrs dissect the video they'll point to the occasional poor use of possession but that comes with experience.

“I think one of the lessons will be being patient when the game is in the melting pot and we were for the most part.

“Kilcoo are a good side who will be hard to beat and we took them to the wire. We are doing something right which is great.” 

Kilcoo scored an early goal before Eoghan McGreevey cancelled it out before half-time.

“I thought the goal we conceded was soft. We lost Ryan Johnston on the edge of the D and he clung it.”