Burren and Carryduff management address ‘square ball’ goal after Down SFC semi-final controversy
Carryduff manager Finnian Moriarty was philosophical when he was asked to address the controversial ending to Sunday’s narrow Down SFC semi-final loss to Burren in Newry’s Páirc Esler.
The former Armagh player had an easy out and could have blamed the officials for not spotting that goal-scorer Ronan Kelly was almost on the goal-line when he scored the vital late goal that sealed victory for St Mary’s.
In a game that seemed certain to go to extra-time, a goal was always going to be a huge score and so it proved.
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Replays subsequently showed that Kelly’s goal ought to be have ruled out for a ‘square ball’ infringement. Given that Carryduff subsequently cut the deficit to three points with a late free from Joe McFlynn, their grievance appeared just, although they didn’t help their own cause according to Moriarty.
“It’s a big moment but to be honest, I don’t know whether the ball was going into the net or not,” stated Moriarty.
“Yes, it’s a square ball, but these things go against you. It was our own fault - we gave the ball away, we dived in and they got the jump on us. Look, that’s football.
“We’d be disappointed, we gave the ball away eight times I think in the second half from their D in in the second half when we were trying to work a score.
“Credit to their defending but that’s our skill level let us down and we have to live with that.”
“There was a lot of shadowing, defence against defence and we knew that would be the case. All credit to them, they were the ones taking the ball off us in the second half and we just got caught.”
Moriarty, who has been with the south Belfast club for the last three seasons, said he’d take some time to consider his future and confirmed that he thought a first half point from James Guinness was over the bar, although referee Ciaran Branagan overruled his two umpires.
Burren joint-manager Stephen O’Hare, meanwhile, said he didn’t see Kelly’s positioning for the goal, but felt Guinness was lucky to only pick up a booking for a high challenge on his county colleague Danny Magill in the first half.
“I though it was a good goal. . . I was at the far dugout,” stated O’Hare.
“Listen, those are the calls that go for you - we felt it could have been a red card in the first half, it looked high to us.”
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