Three talking points from St Finbarr's controversial loss to Dingle

1 – Winning free: We should be talking about the marvellous performance of Steven Sherlock that should have guided St Finbarr’s to their sixth Munster title and a first since the 2021/22 campaign.

But the topic of conversation since the game has been the free that decided the contest. At first viewing, it looked very soft and having watched it back, the Barrs will feel hard done by.

Yes, the Togher side should have managed the game better in the last 20 minutes, only one point in that period. A few missed chances came back to haunt St Finbarr’s.

With the game approaching the third minute of added time in the second half, St Finbarr’s were one point ahead in what was a breathless game of football.

Ian Maguire was swarmed by a number of Dingle players but the referee gave a free to the Kerry outfit. A position on the field where Dingle weren’t going to hurt the Barrs.

Substitute Dylan Quinn was adjudged to have interfered with the quick taking of the free, so it was brought forward to just outside the arc.

Conor Geaney nailed it and Dingle were the winners. The referee blew the full-time whistle seconds later.

A very tough way to lose. Yes, it was the wrong call by the referee, but St Finbarr's should have had the game wrapped up by that stage.

2 – Steven Sherlock: It’s hard to believe that Steven Sherlock has ended up on the losing side. There are just no more words in the dictionary to describe him. Arguably this was his best ever performance and that’s saying something considering his displays over the last number of years.

The sharpshooter kicked five two-pointers in the opening 30 minutes and one in the second half. He landed 0-16 in total.

Dingle had a few different defenders on Sherlock, but there’s only so much you can do and they weren’t able to curb his threat.

It wasn’t just his scoring. He must have also covered every blade of grass. He showed that he has another side to his game and kept going right to the end.

3 – Composure: There’s no doubt that this will be a valuable learning experience for St Finbarr’s when the dust settles, but the immediate feeling will be frustration.

Dingle deserve a lot of credit for coming back into the game having been down seven points at one juncture in the second half, but the Barrs will feel that they didn’t play to the standards that they have set all year in the last 20 minutes. 

The bench didn’t quite have the same impact as in previous matches.

In added time though in the second half, St Finbarr’s were one point ahead before the soft free that decided the game. That passage of play before the controversy, the city team should have managed that crucial period better.

They had the ball with time creeping towards the third minute of injury time.

It's a team that has seen a fair bit of change since their last Munster success in the 2021/22 campaign, they will learn from this.