‘It’s just unreal, it’s a horrible, horrible feeling’

IT took a long time for Jonathan O’Neill Snr to emerge from the dressing room in Nowlan Park last Saturday evening but when he did he carried with him an air of a man in mourning.

The Glenealy and Wicklow legend has had a magnificent year in the red jersey and he showed his ability and his craft as only he can against the Kilkenny champions on the green sward of Nowlan Park but, alas, he left empty handed moments after it had looked as though his long and illustrious hurling career was about to be rewarded with a provincial medal.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been as sick after a game in my life. It’s like a death in the family or something. It was just so close. First team in Wicklow to get to a Leinster final, just to have and for it to be taken away for you in the last few minutes, it’s just unreal, it’s a horrible, horrible feeling, I don’t know what to say,” he said.

Where did it go wrong in those final few minutes?

“I don’t know, little groups of huddles and the ball seemed to break out to one or two of their players and they got a run on us. Silly little frees here and there, some of them were debatable whether they were frees or not.

The Emmet Byrne incident at the end was one talking point. Having turned in a man of the match showing, it seemed almost criminal that the Glenealy corner-back would be sent off after he had been adjudged to have pulled his man down under a high ball into an exposed defence.

“I thought it was a free out at first and I was thinking, ‘great’. And then for him to give the free in and send them off ....

“He (Emmet) was in front of his man all day, little touches, he was unbelievable, he was class today, and for it to end like that, you know, even for him, it’s just, it’s hard.

‘Bosco’ says that getting to half-time and being well and truly in the game was a major boost for Glenealy and that his side hurled very well in the second half only for little decision to go against them and take what looked to be a magical victory from their grasp.

“I think the usual Kilkenny, they come at you in the first 10 minutes and I think we were on the edge, they could have, Keith pulled off a brilliant save in the first few minutes, kept us in the game, kept us with them, and we knew, we were saying if we can get to half-time in this game that we have a chance. That was it.

“We were kind of confident going in at half-time, we said we were in a game, take each half at a time, that’s the way we’ve been playing all year.

“We’ve always talked about let’s see where we are at half-time and then take it from there.

“Gary was saying it’s all positive, let’s go, we’re in a game.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen against Kilkenny teams, you could be blown out of the water, you could 10 or 15 points down at half-time, you know, with Kilkenny hurling, they are the cream of the crop so we were so happy to be in the game at half-time.

“And when you’re in the game at half-time, then belief, you’re finding out what their team is like, you can kind of suss them out a little bit, so we kind of did. Then we got the break of a goal and we just kept pushing and pushing and we were hurling well in the second half, just, again, the last five minutes.

“These are the things, you lose a Leinster final by one point. One point, small decisions. Even ourselves. These are the small, small decisions. Games are won on small decisions. Even what we do ourselves, myself, if you miss a pick up, all adds up, this is how games are won. Sick,” he said.