By Cian O\u2019Connell<\/p>\n
A lifetime spent playing, training, and managing teams at every level in both GAA codes has taught Anthony Cunningham many lessons.<\/p>\n
This AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Final defeat for St Brigid\u2019s against Daingean U\u00ed Ch\u00fais will always be classed in the harrowing category for the Roscommon and Connacht champions.<\/p>\n
Ahead by two in the closing stages of extra-time, Daingean U\u00ed Ch\u00fais finished with a flourish, clipping three on the spin courtesy of Tom O\u2019Sullivan (two) and Mikey Geaney to win an epic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re devastated, I can’t say anymore, devastated for the players, the effort they put in, devastated for our fans, and for the county, and for the work the club has done to get us here,\u201d Cunningham remarked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is really, really tough. It is a tough place to lose in Croke Park, but extra tough when you lose it in added time or the extra time that is being played, we were in a winning position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruaidhr\u00ed Fallon had forced extra-time with a remarkable two pointer, but Daingean U\u00ed Ch\u00fais eventually prevailed. \u201cWith the way the game is gone now, you can never say never,\u201d Cunningham added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tremendous score from Ruaidhr\u00ed, admittedly, to draw the game. It was just one helluva game, it see-sawed all day. We were in hard luck that we finished up on the wrong end of it, right at the death.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Fallon\u2019s earlier goal, Cunningham acknowledged that opportunities were spurned. \u201cThat’s true, we failed to convert a few scores after that,\u201d Cunningham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve had an incredible year, they’ve given us everything, I’m just so sorry for the players and the supporters. They’re young, they will learn. Our congratulations and hats off to An Daingean, they’re a superb football team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so small margins, you play that game 100 or 101 times in your mind, when you’ll look at it back. What can you say? I can’t say a word only thanks to all of our players and supporters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though two All-Ireland defeats have been suffered in three years by Brigid\u2019s, Cunningham is adamant a talented crop of footballers will respond. \u201cHeart-breaking, they’ll rise again, I’ve no doubt about that,\u201d he reflected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Cian O\u2019Connell A lifetime spent playing, training, and managing teams at every level in both GAA codes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-252261","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}