Bitter taste of a hollow victory

VICTORY was bitter in a rainy Melbourne last night. Though Ireland recorded a three-point win at the MCG, the margin still fell seven points short of halting Australia's historic home victory in the International Rules Series.

Many of the Irish players were eaten up by emotion in the aftermath and manager John O'Keefe ended his four year involvement with the code, pained by a controversial penalty.

"I still can't figure out the reason for it," he said in the post-match press conference. "It was a call that changed the game a little bit."

Indeed it did, puncturing the Irish momentum, and leaving 60,000 fans scratching their heads in amazement at the call.

Australian manager Gary Lyon wasn't about to be drawn on the controversy, having lead his side to their first title win on home soil.

"I said last year we don't tend to worry too much about the umpires [referees]. You could isolate that decision, but I reckon you could isolate quite a few incidents. So, we'll just leave it at that and say it was a good game," he commented.

Irish captain Graham Canty was the player involved in the incident and was quite forthcoming in his version.

"The referee said I caught [Brent] Harvey and wrestled him to the ground," he stated.

While his captain was understandably downbeat, despite being chosen as the best Irish player of the series, O'Keefe was philosophical. His view was the pace of the game and the "hits" that went in on tackles "took a toll" on his players.

"You'd have to look at the professionalism of the Australians. They controlled the ball in the final quarter. They just had that edge in possession when it really counted.

"I'd have to compliment my players for the effort. Tactically our approach from the very start was a very strong work ethic and intelligent use of the ball.

"I felt the use of the 'flicks' and the ball on the ground worked very well in the early stages. We could have been even further ahead. But, having said that I'd have to compliment the Australians on the way they wore us down, particularly in the third and fourth quarters.

"Overall I think we lost it in Perth."

O'Keefe accepted inexperience - they introduced 17 'rookies' to the series this year had been a limiting factor overall.

What he had looked for was pace and ball control and while people might have felt they were a small team, they had the necessary characteristics to compensate big hearts, good legs and a willingness to work hard.

"I'd have to say that they learned a lot in the week. It's time to look at a third test. It would make a lot of sense. It's a terrific game, it's evolving and can only get better."

Lyon was delighted with the way his team bounced back after having their backs to the wall.

"Fitness was a factor, but I think more about the character of the blokes. They had to dig deep in the past and they were able to do it again. The turning point was being able to whittle back the lead to seven points fairly quickly.

"If Ireland maintained that buffer they were going to slow the game down and we would have found it really hard to get back. So, the game was played a bit on our terms."