First-half shooting failure cost us title, says Browne

“KILKENNY took their chances, we didn’t and that is the principal reason why the McCarthy Cup is going home to the Marble City today.”

The pained words of Cork captain Alan Browne summed up 70 minutes of hurling on All-Ireland final day in a cold Croke Park corridor. That very reasoning alone made defeat all the more bitter a pill to swallow.

And how he, and his team felt it.

“We had a very poor start. We hit 11 wides in the first half and that type of shooting lost the final for us.

“I thought we played well enough in the first half, even though we were not putting points on the score-board. We found ourselves six points adrift at half-time but there was no panic in the dressing-room, primarily because we were in something of a similar situation in the Munster final against Waterford. I thought our lads showed tremendous character in the second half in the manner in which they fought their way back into contention but unfortunately our poor shooting left us down badly when it looked as if we had Kilkenny for the taking.

“I really don’t know the reason for the amount of wides we chalked up, but our failure to convert our opportunities into scores cost us dearly. But fair play to Kilkenny, they took their chances and that is why they are going home as All-Ireland champions.”

From Browne’s perspective, the timing of Martin Comerford’s goal for Kilkenny was the killer blow to the Cork revival. “We were really motoring well at the time but again, unfortunately, our wayward shooting let us down at crucial stages.”

Browne refused to blame Limerick referee Pat O’Connor, particularly in relation to an incident involving Setanta Ó hAilpín when the official appeared to indicate a penalty. “He might have waved his hands to tell players to come out of the square.”

Neither did he feel that the tension of the occasion got to his side. “I thought we played well overall and won out in the possession stakes but our shooting left us down and that is the bottom line as far as this All-Ireland final is concerned.”

Seanie McGrath, who excelled when introduced to the Cork attack, admitted that everyone in the Cork camp was gutted by the outcome.

“Now we know how Kilkenny felt after we beat them in 1999,” said the Glen Rovers man. “We left it after us. The time to really press home our advantage was after Setanta scored his goal. If we had extended our lead to two or three points then, we would have been in a great position to push home for victory.

“I thought the lads played particularly well in the second half but it was just not to be our day and Kilkenny’s goal, allied to the displays of Martin Comerford and Henry Shefflin, tilted the scales in Kilkenny’s favour.

“The name of the game is winning. It goes without saying that we had opportunities to win this All-Ireland final hands down but somebody up there was not smiling too kindly on us.

“Sport can be cruel and you’ve got to be prepared to take the good with the bad. We had our day in 1999. Kilkenny had theirs on this occasion because the Gods smiled favourably on them.”

So where to now for Cork? Alan Browne was keen to put a positive spin on that poser.

“There is great character in this Cork side and I have no doubt but that they will put this disappointment behind them and come thundering back next season. After all at the start of the year who would have thought that we would win the Munster Championship and contest the All-Ireland final. There would have been few takers for that I am sure.

“Okay, we lost this final and were probably the authors of our own downfall at the end of the day, but I believe that this pain of losing will help us enormously in the future.”