Melaugh: No complaints but some refereeing calls were hard to fathom

Paul Melaugh says Letterkenny Gaels were beaten by the better team in Owenbeg but at the same time he admits he was a little perplexed about some of the refereeing calls that went against his side in their Ulster JFC semi-final clash with Stewartstown Harps.  

The Tyrone champions had led 1-7 to 0-1 at the break and even though their Donegal counterparts did improve somewhat after the restart, and at stages even threatened to rally; they just couldn’t build the sustained momentum they needed.  

And some of those energetic bursts were interrupted by refereeing decisions that were difficult to grasp. 

Having grabbed the first two points in the second-half, Gaels lost a frustrated Ronan Frain to a black card. Moments earlier he had put the ball in the net but was needlessly called back having been fouled in the process - a passage where advantage most definitely should have been given to the Letterkenny attacker.  

After Conor McBrearty goaled from the spot and Brian Diver lobbed over a point, Gaels had reeled matters back to within seven at 1-4 to 1-11. But Stewartstown would nab a second three-pointer through Anton Coyle to finally put the tie beyond any lingering doubt. 

And in the end, it was Stewartstown that comfortably progressed into the decider on a scoreline of 2-15 to 2-5. 

“It was a difficult afternoon,” said Melaugh, who joint-manages Gaels along with Dougie Corbett. “The lads have done everything we’ve asked of them this term and more. Again, they left nothing out there today. 

“We are so proud of them. We know that in the end we were beat by ten points but there were margins in that game where some things just didn’t go our way. There was an advantage there where had it  been let go a little longer we were in on goal. 

“We sort of needed those things to go our way. We had another penalty shout there as well. We got a black card that wasn’t a black card… I’m not going to critiscise the referee as he has a difficult job to do. 

“But some of the decisions there, we’d be disappointed in. When you come to this level you expect the referee’s performance to also be up there. The marginal calls just went against us  today. That’s not sour grapes, Stewartstown are a very fine side. 

“If you’re looking down the tracks, January or February, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them up against a side from Kerry or David Clifford or whoever!”

He added: “We’ve made some massive comebacks this season at different times. But one point in the first 30 minutes of football, it left us with too big a gap to bridge. But we told them after, aside from the fact we’re so proud of them, they’ve really knuckled down this year.

“Next season, we’re moving up a level (to Intermediate). So when we get back at it, we have to come back with that same application, attitude and intensity. From the club's point of view, we wanted to retain Division 2 status and win the Junior A title this season. 

“Ulster was never mentioned. It kinda was bonus territory. We certainly refocused though and were determined to give it our best crack. So there is real disappointment. But next year we’ll be an Intermediate club for the very first time. And it’s vital now that we retain that status going forward.”