McGeeney refuses to join 'goal' debate

Audio

• Kieran McGeeney gives his reaction after the loss to Donegal

Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney won’t be wallowing in self pity after his team were once again dumped out of the Championship in controversial circumstances.

Last year, the Lilywhites lost to Down in the All-Ireland semi-final by two points after the referee had allowed Benny Coulter’s ‘square ball’ goal to stand.

On Saturday, the referee denied Kildare a perfectly good goal after Tomás O’Connor collected a rebound and finished the ball into the back of the net. Kevin Cassidy’s last-gasp point completed an unlikely Donegal comeback two minutes into additional time at the end of extra-time to deny the Lilywhites a replay.

“We’re annoyed that we weren’t at the winning end of it but that’s sport, a tough day at the office but you just get up and get on with it.

“It was a tough game. Donegal beat us by a point. They’re a good squad, a good team. [We’ll] just take it on the chin,” McGeeney told RTÉ's Darren Frehill after the match.

Asked about the disallowed goal, he said: “I seem to have this conversation every year and that probably sums it up. If we keep talking about refereeing decisions every year then you can argue that there’s something wrong [there] or there’s something wrong with the manager. I'd rather not talk about stuff like that.”

McGeeney’s side had been vaunted for their fitness, and despite falling away in the second period of extra-time, the former All-Ireland-winning captain wasn’t blaming the long run in the qualifiers either.

“Teams are well fit to play four weeks on the trot. We showed we were there till the very end. Just probably the two minutes of extra time, they got the two scores in the last 30 seconds. That’s how it goes, it’s rough,” he said.

McGeeney was slightly less forthcoming when asked about continuing as Kildare boss next year. "I love football. I’ll always be involved with it to some degree or other,” he said.