Roe left frustrated at final whistle

WHEN Sunday’s Senior Football Championship final finished in dramatic fashion as Portarlington and debutants Courtwood could not be separated at the final whistle, it was not the ending either managers would have wanted.

Portarlington manager, Pat Roe, admitted as he left Laois Hire O’Moore Park with mixed emotions, combining pride in his team’s effort with frustration at certain aspects of the game, particularly late refereeing decisions.

“I suppose when you get a draw, you're both disappointed and happy. I'm disappointed in some aspects of the game that I won't discuss. I'll have a look at it and see. Frees throughout, to be honest. I can't say too much,” Roe said.

Roe acknowledged that while his side showed glimpses of their championship-winning quality, their inconsistency prevented them from establishing control.

“You have to be, you have to be significantly better. For periods, we were, but we weren't consistent enough. When we were in the ascendancy, we didn't punish them enough. At the end of the first half, having gotten off the hook in the first ten minutes, we got on top, and we just didn't punish them enough at the end of the first half. Same, we were three points up in the second half. We should have been able to push on and we weren't able to,” Roe said.

The manager had previously stressed the importance of a full 60-minute performance. He admitted that while the team showed improvement on Sunday, there is still work to do.

“I think so. We're not consistent in the level. When we're good, we're very good. We're just not consistently good enough. We started very sluggishly. Again, we went out of it in the second half. Look, I think there were circumstances that, as I said, I'm not going to elude to now,” Roe said.

A contentious moment late in the game saw Rioghan Murphy appear to be fouled, and Roe made it clear what he thought about the incident.

“You don't have to be a blind person to see what happened there, as far as I'm concerned, there were two or three frees,” Roe said.

The Portarlington boss also voiced frustration at the number of scoring opportunities conceded from frees to Courtwood goalkeeper Matthew Byron, who kept his side in the game with five points, including two two-pointers.

“You don't think we're idiots, do you? You don't think we'd give away frees that easily to a man who can do that? I'm angry now, so I'm just going to throttle back a small bit. I'm just disappointed, I'm disappointed in certain aspects of the game,” Roe said.

Despite his irritation, Roe was quick to commend his players for showing heart and resilience, even if defensive lapses allowed Courtwood to score two goals, and possibly more.

“No, they did. That's why they're champions. There's no end to their heart and grit and guts, but we gave Courtwood their goals. They scored two, and they could have had two or three more. That's something we'll have to look at,” he added.

Roe reserved special praise for Robbie Pigott, whose crucial block prevented a near-certain goal from Alan Kinsella, while acknowledging Byron’s heroics for Courtwood “Yeah, he did. Robbie was top class. Again, when we were on top, we didn't do enough to put daylight between ourselves and Courtwood. We were able to give them oxygen and keep them in the game. I make no bones about it. The goalie kept them in the game as well with his two-point frees. Fair dues to him,” he said.

Looking ahead to the replay, Roe was already focused on preparation, determined to turn lessons from Sunday into a winning performance.

“We'll prepare for that accordingly. We'll have a look at the game during the week. We'll see where we can improve. I'm happy enough with the replay. I'm happy that we're still in it,” Roe ended.