Fitzgerald plays down Mullane taunt
June 18, 2012
John Mullane celebrates Waterford's win over Clare ©INPHO
Mullane celebrated wildly in front of the Clare manager on the Semple Stadium sideline, but Fitzgerald - who managed Waterford for four seasons - played down the incident, suggesting that the actions were prompted by someone telling Mullane that Fitzgerald had said he was "finished" as a hurler.
"I think John Mullane was told something that was untrue," the 1995 and '97 Clare All-Ireland winning goalkeeper said.
"Listen, I have no problem whatsoever and let me say this 100 per cent on the record - John Mullane is one of the best players I've ever seen and John Mullane has another two or three years in him big time if he wants.
"Sometimes people tell players things to get them riled up and to perform in a game. And I still think there's a savage amount in that Waterford team. I have nothing but admiration and respect for them. They'll have a say in this championship before it's over but don't write off Clare."
Fitzgerald also refused to criticise referee James McGrath's controversial decision to award Waterford a first half penalty, which Eoin Kelly dispatched the net.
"You can say hard done by or whatever - I don't read into that. We had our chances. I'm not going to go into it (penalty). The analysts will see that themselves on television. I have no cribs whatsoever. Waterford won, end of story. Some days you'll get breaks. Other days you won't," he continued.
"I'm not going to comment this time. I'll let the people that were there judge for themselves. If I make a comment on it, I know what's going to happen. I'm not going to do that this time. I think it's fairly evident but we're not going to go down that road, blaming or looking at anybody. It's there to be seen.
"We had a chance or two at the end but we missed two or three easy frees and the ball fell out of the hands of a couple of players. That's tough going but we gave it everything we had." Tweet
