Ray Delaney rues missed chances as UCC bow out of Fitzgibbon Cup

An end to UCC’s Fitzgibbon Cup campaign always looked probable when they were paired up with the reigning champions on their own patch. Even so, this quarter-final was most frustrating for Ray Delaney’s side.

Largely for the position they found themselves in at half-time.

Into a stiff breeze, and despite a several wides, UCC went in only two points adrift at half-time. It was a position Delaney felt reflected their application.

“We were very happy at half-time,” Delaney began. “We spoke about what to expect just after half-time. I think we had the first shot off on goal and that went wide, they came up to pitch and scored.

That opening exchange after the restart was a minor moment, but it was the beginning of a pattern that would quickly come to repeat.

“It's funny, if you'd asked me after the game last night, I would probably have looked at it in one way. After sleeping on it and reflecting on it, you look at it in different ways when you've a bit of time.

“There were times in that first half I thought they got very soft frees, I felt that they just got things a small bit easier and then you settle down, you have a night's sleep and you reflect on it. And you realise we had a huge amount of opportunities in the first half to tack on a few points, we had a few bad misses with wides, we had a few wides from normal play.

“As I said, they're the thoughts that you have when the match is on and just after and that's just the emotion of it,” he explained. “On the night UL were better than us, they scored more than us, they won the game.

RUB OF THE GREEN

“It just seemed, you need a slice of luck when you're playing good teams as well,” he added. “We just didn't seem to get any rub of the green.

“But again, we were in double figures for wides and that sucks oxygen out of you.” UCC’s wide count ultimately finished at 13 – four more than their opponents managed – and it was those missed opportunities that frustrated Delaney afterwards, particularly when the game was still delicately poised.

“We had a great goal chance in the second half, great save by their keeper, they come up the field and they score and instead of going level, you're now four points down. That sucks oxygen.

“Now, look, they are a very, very good team, they really are a good team,” Delaney said. “We probably feel there was an opportunity there to turn them over and we didn't take it.” 

UCC’s evening unravelled further with two late red cards, Eoin Downey dismissed for an off-the-ball incident, before Michael Mullaney followed in additional time.

“I genuinely didn't see the second one, but the lads thought that by the letter of the law it was a red card and there's no excuses there.

“The first one, I find it frustrating when the player himself doesn't know,” Delaney remarked. “When the player himself asks the officials and he's ignored more or less. We asked the linesmen what was it for and we didn't get an answer.

“There were things like that we were frustrated with now, admittedly. 

Even at the start of the game, we lined up and William Buckley got a bang into the back, right in front of the linesman.

“We went out in the second half, William was thrown to the ground before the ball was thrown in, in front of the two umpires and the two umpires are telling us to move on, keep going.

“These things happen in matches, it might sound like I’m looking for excuses, there are no excuses. But it's frustrating.

“You watch rugby there and referees talk to players, they explain to players. And when a player is sent off, of course it's upsetting for him, it's upsetting for us, the team, but at least just tell him why.”