McConville: I fouled ball before equaliser

OISÍN McCONVILLE admitted favourites Crossmaglen Rangers ‘left their performance behind in the changing room’ after Saturday’s draw with Dr Crokes in the All-Ireland club football final.

“To be honest, we didn’t expect to come here and be that bad. But, we were. We’ll take all the criticism that comes.”

McConville also revealed that he had fouled the ball before kicking the equaliser which forces a replay in two weeks time.

“I just wanted to get a ball and I couldn’t get my hands on one. And eventually when it came to me I wasn’t given an option in having a shot or passing. My mind was made up. Some people might say that’s greed, but we were in a similar position in the 2004 semi-final when I felt I should have taken a free kick and I didn’t. The responsibility was on my shoulders, I was glad to see the ball go over the bar. I knew the referee was going to blow because in these situations you’ll always get a whistle once time is nearly up and it’s a draw.

“There was a suspicion that I might have carried the ball a few extra steps. I think they’ll forgive me on this occasion.’’

Meanwhile, manager Donal Murtagh was seeing things rather differently. He felt Crokes had enjoyed ‘the rub of the green’. But, like the Crokes manager Pat O’Shea, he was looking on the bright side.

“At the end of the day we’re still undefeated,’’ he remarked.

McConville added: “While our backs were to the wall and we know how bad we were, at the end of the day we came off the field the happier team. We set out at the start of the year to win the All-Ireland and we’re still there. We were out of it for long periods. They won everything — all the breaks were in the middle of the field and it was disappointing for us. Three points down, it seemed that no matter what we did it wasn’t going to happen for us. But fair play to the boys for chipping away.’’

McConville also felt the concession of a goal so quickly after he had put the ball in the net was ‘a sucker punch’ — and was also seen as a turning point by Murtagh.

“I’d be disappointed the way we gave it away. The ball went the full level of the pitch without us getting a tackle in. It probably spurred them into action. For the next ten minutes or so, they were really on top.’’

McConville was even more forthright. “The performance was very poor. There’s no hiding place for a lot of boys. Apart from the reliable Francie (Bellew) at the back we were poor around the field.

“We worked on a couple of things all year — not giving the ball away, getting it up to the people who can score and knocking it over the bar. It just wasn’t happening. We were kicking balls up the line, mis-timing passes, coming off the shoulder too late and, too early. We’re not happy with our performance and I don’t think Crokes were either. They feel they should have closed the game out.”