Cork manager refuses to criticise officials for key decisions and says better team won
From the Upper Hogan Stand, he looked like the headless hurler of the Cork-pocalypse.
The other Cork players were strewn around him in various shapes and angles of shattered repose, but Fitzgibbon was the only one who couldn’t even bring himself to look.
Eventually, Damien Cahalane came over and tapped Fitzgibbon on the arse with his hurley, bringing him back above ground and into their shared nightmare.
What did he say? What could he say?
Today’s Sports News in 90 Seconds – 22nd July
Then, the fireworks and the streamers went off. How does that feel? Crippled by pain, the full pinch of which has yet to reveal itself, and a party erupts in 360 degrees all around you.
“Obviously, we’re very disappointed,” Pat Ryan said afterwards. “We came up here to win today and we didn’t get over the line. All credit to Clare – they performed fantastically and probably just about deserved their victory in the end.”
Gauging the losers’ mood is never straightforward on All-Ireland final day. There are different classifications.
Teams who fulfil career goals by making it to hurling’s biggest day and are blown to smithereens are one genre. That’s funeral-level stuff.
Upset favourites are another. Typically, that is where face-saving and stoic acceptance dominate the brief post-game reaction.
Where were Cork on the spectrum of defeated All-Ireland finalists? Neither of those two extremes anyway. They lost a 50/50 final by the odd score in 75. How do you make peace with that?
That Anthony Daly line about hurling constituting a million mad things and someone wins in the end felt utterly appropriate here.
Yesterday, Clare ended up – to paraphrase Páidí Ó Sé – with the extra grain of rice that tipped the scales.
That they were winners felt almost arbitrary. Like they had simply won a random selection. Cork had to get their heads around the opposite sensation.
Could have won yesterday? Clearly. Should they have? Quite probably.
To his credit, Ryan didn’t try and attribute the loss to the uncontrollable elements of the day.
Had he a mind, there were a few axes he might have ground.
Was Robbie O’Flynn fouled before taking that last shot?
Séamus Harnedy might have butchered a good goal chance, but he still deserved a ’65.
Should David McInerney have been black-carded – and Cork awarded a penalty – at the end of the first half?
“From where I was, back on the opposite ’45, it looked like it,” said Ryan, in a very matter-of-fact way, clearly still processing the emotion of the day.
“I don’t know, to be honest. I don’t think that that affected it. Obviously, there are a couple of decisions that go your way and don’t go your way.
“At the end of the day, Clare are the champions and we won’t be giving out about any of that stuff.”
Ryan has been up front about his goal – and Cork’s obligation – to win All-Irelands.
Given the epic nature of the day, it seemed unavoidable to ask whether there was some solace to be taken in the manner of Cork’s performance.
But the thing about All-Ireland finals is there are no marks awarded afterwards for artistic merit.
“I don’t know, I’ve never lost an All-Ireland final, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It’ll take a while to get this out of the way.
“I suppose the good thing is fellas are back into their clubs over the next two weeks, so we just need to move on and you just have to double down.
“Obviously, it’s heart-wrenching for our group, I suppose, but show what we’re made of going forward.
“I suppose that, sometimes, you’d say no,” he added, “but, from our point of view, our job was to represent the county, represent the jersey, represent the people who came up here, paying hard money to come up to Dublin, and I think the lads did that.
“The lads can be very proud of how they performed – but, at the same time, we came up here to win and we didn’t.
“We’ll lick our wounds and congratulate Clare. They’ll have a great couple of days and we’ll have a sad couple of days and fellas will go back to their clubs.”
