“I think the better team won over the course of the game” - Shay Murrin

The great journey of Donegal Southwest in the MacRory Cup came to an end at the semi-final stage after they went down by two points to AVS, Donegal Town in Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon.

The five-school amalgamation were slow out of the blocks and found themselves four points in arrears at the break and although they upped their performance in the second half they were unable to bridge the gap.

After the final whistle one of the Southwest mentors, Shay Murrin, was very forthright in his reaction.

“I think the better team won over the course of the game. They took their chances and were very, very strong in front of goal. In the first half we were kicking wide after wide, probably lacked a bit of composure in front of goal.

“I think that’s the period we got ourselves in bother. We went 7-2 down and we could have been closer. In fairness everything they touched turned to goal. In fairness, that’s the quality of them. You can’t take that away from them, the pure quality of them. They deserve a huge amount of credit.

“We were poor in front of goal today and we have been like that throughout the tournament. We have played in patches in front of goal and it probably cost us today. They managed to build up a bit of a lead.

“The big thing was in the second half they got to play a lot of it on their own terms. We were working really hard and the honesty was through the roof, but when they turned the ball over they had lightning pace. They got to play it the way they wanted to play it and they were comfortable,” said Murrin, who  felt Abbey settled into the game much quicker than Donegal Southwest.

“They got into their groove very quick and it’s hard to play against that. Huge credit to them.”

The Southwest team were much more direct in the second half and quickly cut the Abbey lead to two.

“I think there was a period when we were very dominant but they kicked three scores. I think it went from two points out to five in a period we were doing everything but put the ball over the bar. And that’s where it counts the most, regardless of any other stat,” said Murrin, who said Abbey were strong on the break and got their shooters on the ball.

“In saying that, they are all shooters.”

Looking back on the year, Murrin felt it was a great journey “We played Enniskillen a few months ago over there (in Munday’s Field) in a challenge and we started out on the journey,” said Murrin, who said they went out and tried to enjoy it.

“We’ve had a big game in Breffni, we’ve had a big game in Omagh and we’ve had a MacRory Cup semi-final, a serious experience for the lads. I know some of the setups in the north and the amount of training they do. We didn’t get near that level, and never will. We will only have limited time with them and there’s no complaints about that.

“We asked the boys in there if they enjoyed it and all of them said yes,” said Murrin, who is hopeful that the amalgamation can continue.

“There was a lot of giving out about it in the Tyrone papers. They had access to 944 boys, we had access to 955. They had access to x amount of clubs, we had access  to a lot less clubs. I think it is even enough,” said Murrin.

“Abbey are the team that deserve a huge amount of credit. What they have done with three clubs and what they have achieved is unbelievable,” said Murrin, who agreed that having two Donegal teams in the last four is brilliant.

“When we met first at the Na Rossa pitch, we told the lads that every time a team from the North wins an All-Ireland title, they always reference the MacRory Cup. We’ve given our lads in Donegal, through Abbey and the Southwest the opportunity. We hope we will get benefits from it.

“If we could get in for a few years, we might see the benefit long term,” said Murrin, who said they would have to lick their wounds after the defeat.