'I watched it back and to be honest and there was absolutely nothing in it'

Rory Kavanagh might’ve held a cool exterior but didn’t mince his words on a referring decision that he felt cost his St Eunan’s side in the Donegal SFC final against Naomh Conaill.

Shane O'Donnell was lined after he appeared to push Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí to the ground a minute before the break. Referee Marc Dorrian subsequently sent off O'Donnell after linesman Val Murray brought it to the referee's attention.

Kavanagh, who was in deep conversation with referee Dorrian after the match, said that linesman Murray told him it was for a subsequent alleged push incident involving O'Donnell.

“I watched it back and to be honest there was absolutely nothing in it,” Kavanagh said. “Shane comes in and he pushes somebody and goes to ground. But we consulted linesman Val Murray afterwards and he said it was for a secondary action where he said that Shane allegedly struck the Glenties player on the ground but there was no strike.

“There was no strike and these are big moments and big decisions in county finals and I told him it was wrong and that he got it wrong and it cost us today. He said there was a strike on the ground but we looked and there was no strike on the ground and that was a huge call and I know we were not playing well but at the same time these are big decisions that went against us.

“We are disappointed with the sending off and you want clarification. Shane is a key man and a county player and when he goes the momentum shifts. You want clarification from the officials.

“They said there was a strike when the Glenties man was on the ground. We watched it back and there was no strike. I don't know what they were seeing.

O’Donnell was sent off with his side 1-3 to 0-4 in front having played the first half with the wind. Kavanagh admitted he was not happy with his side's performance as Naomh Conaill came back to win 1-9 to 2-5.

The ref and umpires have made a very poor call on this one. You have to feel for Shane O Donnel. A yellow and a red pic.twitter.com/Ps1U1wzdT4

— Michael Boyle (@boylem24) October 15, 2022

“Obviously disappointed and I think we just made too many errors today and were caught in possession too easily,” the St Eunan’s manager said.

“We were not good and we were not playing on our terms in the first half and to be fair to Glenties they came out with a lot of energy and made turnovers in their own half and we struggled to counteract that. Naomh Conaill had a very good start and then we got that goal but I still did not think that we were playing on our terms.”

Naomh Conaill got ahead in the 40th minute when Charlie McGuinness finished a raking ball in from Odhran Doherty for a goal and although St Eunan’s got back on terms twice after that, they were never ahead again.

“They got a goal in the second half, and it was a high ball into the square and I think Wardy (Caolan Ward) got caught in the sun and the ball went straight to Charles McGuinness who finished to the net,” Kavanagh said.

“That was a big moment, and it gave them a cushion of two to three points and we got a goal of our own and it became one of those games where winning the kick out was very important. But they won the kick out and Ciaran Thompson went up the field immediately and kicked a point. And then he kicked another after Conor Morrison equalised for us and Ciaran Thompson had a great game and he also pulled off a few fine catches when they needed them.”