Monaghan manager John McAleer was furious with some of the refereeing decisions in his side's All-Ireland ladies football final defeat to Cork. While conceding that they lost to a physically stronger Cork side, he felt that some of the refereeing decisions undermined their challenged. "We were happy enough at half time to go in three points down, but some of the decisions out there went completely against us," he said, adding that they made a big difference to the outcome. McAleer questioned the legitimacy of Valerie Mulcahy's fisted goal just after half-time when she appeared to be in the square ahead of the ball. "The two umpires just looked at each other and one of them decided to put up a green flag. It was a big decision to go against you but I have to say on the day Cork were the better team overall. But I don't think that was that difference (14 points) between us." In particular, he praised his team for the composure they showed in recovering from Cork's early goal. "We were always worried about getting off to a bad start. I was delighted with the way the girls stuck in," he said. "We were going for goals near the end, but Cork had too much for us. This is a young and very light Monaghan team. Hopefully we can get a few more (players) in next year, if I'm still about, and have another crack at it. That would be our aim, to come back. But, I'll have to see," added McAleer, who only took over as manager in May. Tweet

Most Read Stories