Garrycastle lament Leinster final lost opportunity

After last Sunday's big game, Garrycastle manager Anthony Cunningham was understandably "very disappointed" following his charges' defeat in the Leinster Club senior football final in Tullamore. However, he sportingly conceded that the new champions Portlaoise, whose joyous celebrations were audible from the adjoining dressing room, are "a classy team and they took their scores well". The general consensus among the large contingent of Westmeath Gaels present was that Garrycastle underperformed on the day, but Cunningham was quick to defend his players. "There is no fault attributed to any player. We were unfortunate in that we got a lot of chances there in the second half. I think we had eight wides and sent a number of balls into the goalie's hands, but guys don't go out there to do that," he said. "We didn't have that piece of luck today and we let in a goal at the worst time to concede a goal, after we scored a goal ourselves. The wind was there, they had 14 men, but we were short of a bit luck for a few points, and that would have made a huge difference." Referring specifically to his wind-assisted troops' failure to trouble the umpires for the last quarter of the contest, the former Galway hurler stated: "Gary (Dolan) nearly got a second goal and we took a few shots and they went short or went wide. We were a point down after getting the goal and we didn't look like conceding any other goal throughout the day. To let it in that time, we were in hard luck. That's the nature of the game. We're disappointed, very disappointed because we know we could have won the match, but hats off to Portlaoise." As has happened on countless other occasions in big Gaelic football matches, Portlaoise raised their game when reduced to 14 men after Peter McNulty's dismissal, late in the first half. However, the Garrycastle bainisteoir did not feel that was a huge factor in his team's defeat. "Ah, I don't know about that. We fought hard in the second half and tried our damnest. While the scoreboard might have said four points in the finish, there was very little in it." So it's back to the drawing board for Garrycastle, who became the fourth Westmeath side to unsuccessfully contest a senior provincial decider. In the 40-year history of this prestigious competition, the trophy has yet to spend the winter in a Lake County clubhouse. And it's certainly not getting any easier to win.