‘Carrickmore just got away from us late on’ admits St Eunan’s boss Chris McAuley

Chris McAuley had no complaints and admitted that Éire Óg of Carrickmore deserve to be in the last four of the Ulster club IHC. 

The St Eunan’s boss watched on as the Tyrone champions lifted matters when it really mattered, down the stretch, to run out convincing 1-16 to 1-9 winners in O’Donnell Park. 

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Still, the hosts were right in the game on 53 minutes at 1-11 to 1-9. But having already pulled themselves back from the brink earlier in the half, St Eunan’s just didn’t have the energy or, indeed, luck, to go to the well one last time. 

“They’ve gone six in a row in Tyrone so they are a really experienced side,” he said. “Coming into this, we felt we were in a good place. But they got a run on us late on there and deserve to be in the next round.

“There wasn’t that much between the two sides on the whole but they just moved the ball that little bit better than us when it really mattered.”  

Having split the two-point interval deficit in half early on following the restart, Shea Munroe struck a huge goal for the visitors. And going into the last ten minutes in Letterkenny, the hosts trailed 1-11 to 0-8. 

But John Kealy would net down the other end for St Eunan’s and, with just seven minutes to go, we were back to a two-point game. 

But with the Red Hand outfit nailing the last five points, St Eunan’s battling effort tailed off in disappointing fashion. 

“I felt we responded well to that setback, the goal I mean, and we really dug in. But in that last seven or eight minutes it just got away from us. We had opportunities we didn’t take and, at this level, that will cost you”.