St. Pat's, Maghera manager Paul Hughes admitted that his side didn't deserve to win Saturday's Hogan Cup final.

Leading by 1-4 to 0-2 at half-time, the Derry school's hopes of winning back-to-back titles were dashed as their Kerry opponents Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne staged a stirring second half comeback to win by 1-8 to 1-6.

"We would be disappointed by our own performance, but you cannot take anything away from the winners," Hughes said in the Irish News.

"The goal at the start of the second half changed everything. It gave them a tremendous lift and they did an excellent job of closing us down with a defensive wall for the rest of the game.

"They pushed up on our half backs from the start and Conor Glass's goal came a bit against the run of play. Our forwards were coming deeper to help take the pressure off the defence, but we were having difficulty getting players into scoring positions.

"An Phobalscoil played with great energy throughout and they produced the better performance on the day. I have no problem in admitting that.

"However, I am very proud of this panel of players. They have made a huge commitment all season. They are a great bunch of lads and they have made a huge contribution to our school." Tweet

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