Sarsfields manager Johnny Crowley. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Manager Johnny Crowley was disappointed that Sarsfields didn't play to their full potential in Sunday's AIB All-Ireland Club SHC Final at Croke Park.
Na Fianna were in control from early on at GAA headquarters with Crowley highlighting the fact that Sarsfields didn't convert enough opportunities. "We made an awful lot of fundamental errors, which is unusual for us - handling, picking, striking," Crowley reflected.
"I think we had seven or eight wides in the first half. It is just hugely disappointing, unfortunately in this brilliant game we play, there is a winner and a loser.
"We’re the losers today which is hard to take. They’re singing down in the dressing-room there which is great for them."
Despite the defeat, Crowley acknowledged the Sarsfields players' efforts throughout the campaign. "It is very difficult," Crowley says about losing.
"You try to find answers, you trust your team too, which we do. They’re an amazing bunch, they’ve brought us on an amazing journey. You’re just waiting for the tide to turn, one tackle, one hit or that something to ignite the whole thing.
"Unfortunately it didn’t seem to come. We lost our shape completely towards the last 10 of the first half. Going in 11 or 12 down at half time, we had a massive mountain to climb.
"But credit to the boys, they stuck at it. I think we might have won the second half by three or four points. We couldn’t get that goal either. To be fair to them, Na Fianna were watertight at the back, we just couldn’t seem to find any gaps in there."
