Tyrone minor ladies boss unhappy with refereeing decisions in All-Ireland final

By Niall Gartland

TYRONE Minor Ladies manager Fergal Quinn expressed his frustration with the performance of referee Ray McBride following his team’s extra-time defeat to Kerry in Saturday’s All-Ireland B Championship final.

The Red Hands played exceptionally well against a strong Kerry team, a sensational late goal from Aghaloo’s Erin McGinn bringing the game to extra-time, but they couldn’t quite seal the deal at Tullamore.

The decision-making of Dublin ref Ray McBride came in for strong criticism after the game by manager Fergal Quinn, who argued that Tyrone were judged to a higher standard than their Kerry counterparts.

“He gave us free kicks in non-scoreable areas, while every time we touched a Kerry player, it was a free kick. They got a lot of soft frees, but look, there’s nothing we can do about it now.

“At the same time, when you prepare a team to come down here to play in an All-Ireland final, you expect fair play, but I don’t think we got fair play.

“There was a lot of cynical fouling on our forwards, and it wasn’t pulled. But what can you do? It’s disappointing.”

When the dust settles, Tyrone can reflect on a memorable season on top of a hugely-commendable showing on All-Ireland final day.

Quinn is confident that the experience will stand to them in the long run.

“I’m very proud of our players, and I say that on behalf of the entire management team. The effort they’ve put in all through the year has been fantastic. They’ll go back to their clubs as better footballers and hopefully push on to the U20s as better footballers as well.

“Defeat is never easy to take but they’ve done themselves proud and will learn a lot from playing at this level.

“Some of them will go on to have intercounty careers down the line, and I think this whole experience will have brought them on.”