BY COLM BRADLEY

Tuesday morning and the dust had settled; slightly. And St Michael's manager Dom Corrigan tried to reflect on what had happened less than 24 hours previously.

"No words can describe fully a defeat like yesterdays. It was gut wrenching," was his honest appraisal of his fifth MacRory Cup final appearance as manager.

"Personally it was one of the worst defeats I have ever had to experience in football. To lose by a point is bad enough but when you take into account all the other circumstances it makes it a little worse."

Other circumstances include the injury to captain and playmaker Daryl Keenan in the first half;

"I didn't think that he was injured as early. But it was after 15 minutes and the score was 1-04 to a point at that stage. It was a huge blow to us," Corrigan explained before continuing;

"Daryl not only offers so much himself but he has the ability to bring others into the game and when he got injured the effectiveness of others was diminished."

Corrigan was also disappointed with some the refereeing decisions;

"I watched the DVD last night and I have to say that there were some curious decisions in the last 15 minutes that had a huge impact on the game. I felt we were on the end of a few bad calls."

But Corrigan is realistic enough to admit that Dungannon were playing the better football in the second half;

"They had all the momentum coming into the last twenty minutes and with five to go I would have taken a draw but you don't always get what you want."

Dom and this group of players have worked tirelessly over the past seven months and he feels for his young charges;

"It is very difficult and I feel for the boys. They put so much effort into this and to come away with a defeat like that is going to be very hard for them to take. Certainly it has shown them at a young age how cruel the game can be. There can be highs and lows and for all those players yesterday was the biggest low in their footballing careers."

But Dom is confident that his players will bounce back;

"I suppose there is two ways that a player can react to a defeat like that. They can either let it break them or they can come back stronger and I know that these boys will come back stronger. Some will go on to play for their county and their universities and others for their clubs but I know that to a man they will react in the right way."

Indeed much has been made of the fact that 12 of the starting 15 are underage again next year and that this may temper the pain felt by those. Corrigan disagrees;

"To be honest anybody who talks about next year must not have played too much football. We were all about this year and winning the MacRory Cup this year. Next year counts for nothing this morning."

It will take some time for Corrigan and his troops to get over this defeat and the sad reality is that for some their chances of winning a MacRory Cup is gone forever. However those with another crack can store up the hurt and the pain and use it to their advantage next year, as distant as that seems today.