Lacey disappointed as Kilcoo ‘just weren’t clinical enough’
Kilcoo manager Karl Lacey says that his team ‘didn’t hurt’ Errigal Ciaran enough on the scoreboard, as they were left to rue an agonising one-point defeat in Sunday’s Ulster Final.
“We scored 10 points, conceded it 1-8, so conceding 1-8 against the team that Errigal Ciaran are, we should be good enough to win the game, but we just didn't hurt them the other way,” said Lacey who agreed that after joint captain Darryl Branagan was dismissed with a straight red card on 44 minutes that his side regrouped well and weren’t affected on the scoreboard, keeping control of the game.
“We did, yes. The boys reacted very well. The boys reacted very well after the goal in the first half and then that sending off, they reacted very well.
“It's obviously very difficult against 15 men when you're down a man. We were doing very well in their kick-outs. We were taking possession of their kick-outs and then we lost that, obviously.”
While the manager felt his side began to lose control of the kick-outs a man down in the latter stages of the game, he also felt it was more unforced errors for Kilcoo than their opponents that made the difference in the end.
“Losing a man then, we weren't getting possession of their kick-outs. That didn't help us either. It just came down to us with the ball. We just weren't clinical enough.”
Stoppage time was where the death knell was sounded however, when a turnover for the equalising free by Thomas Canavan gave Errigal the impetus to push forward with another turnover for the winning Peter Og McCartan point.
“Yes, the unfortunate thing for Callum Rogers is everybody remembers the last one,” said Lacey of that last turnover from his under-pressure defender when Kilcoo had one last chance to find the winner.
“That was a common theme throughout the game then. A bad poor pass or bad decision-making under pressure. Obviously, everybody will remember that one.
“While there's nobody pointing the finger at Callum Rogers, it was a crucial stage, obviously. It was all square. We got our hands on the ball. If you give it away cheaply at this level you are going to be punished. That was the common theme. Scenarios like that throughout the whole game.”
And so Errigal Ciaran claimed their third Ulster title, while it’s back to the drawing board for Kilcoo who will take some time to get over this loss.