Clonakilty selector Eoin Ryan rues misses and controversial goal: 'We had plenty of chances to win the game'

Clonakilty selector Eoin Ryan felt his side paid heavily for wastefulness in front of goal as their McCarthy Insurance Group Premier SFC campaign ended with a 2-12 to 0-16 semi-final defeat to St Finbarr’s at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The West Cork side produced plenty of attacking football on Saturday night and created enough opportunities to reach a first county final since 2021, but a combination of missed chances and St Finbarr’s clinical finishing ultimately proved costly.

“It’s terribly disappointing. A game we completely dominated everywhere except the scoreboard. That’s the reality of it,” Ryan said.

“Our conversion rate was awful. We just didn’t fire.

“We were unlucky. We hit the post, hit the crossbar. It just wasn’t our night. But we gave it everything we had and that’s the way it is.” 

Despite the narrow margin of defeat, Ryan believed Clonakilty had matched the reigning county champions for long spells and were unfortunate not to come away with a different outcome.

“It’s a tough one to take,” he says.

“You wouldn’t mind being beaten if you were beaten by a better team. But I don’t think we were to be fair.

“Now, they were clinical. When they came up with the ball, they seemed to score. We missed a lot.” 

One moment that particularly frustrated the Clonakilty camp was St Finbarr’s second goal just before half-time. 

Thomas Egan finished to the net, but Ryan felt goalkeeper Mark White had been fouled. 

“That goal was very debatable,” Ryan states.

“Mark had the ball in his hands and your man came in and the ball finished up in the back of the net. That’s very questionable.

“I don’t know, I’d have to watch it back, but I thought it was a free out myself.” 

However, Ryan stopped short of blaming the decision for the defeat, acknowledging that Clonakilty still had enough chances to win the contest.

“We missed a penalty then. Whatever we did or didn’t do, we had plenty of chances to win the game. We didn’t take them.

“There was only two points in it at the end. We kicked 16 points. I think we had 30 shots at goal, so that ain’t good. That’s just the way it is.”