Derry midfielder Conor Glass has criticised the quality of communication over the decision to retrospectively adjudge Shane Walsh's free as a point during half-time in their All-Ireland semi-final loss to Galway.
The Glen midfielder was hailed as one of the stars of the inter-county season, now widely touted for an All-Star as Derry - mired in Division 4 a mere three years ago - powered their way to a first Ulster title for 24 years, subsequently blitzing Clare in the quarter-final.
But the Ulster champions' feel-good season ended on a bum note, with a five-point loss to Padraic Joyce's side in the last-four, only their second competitive defeat of 2022 - both coming against the westerners.
The semi-final was marred by an alarming Hawk-eye error, which saw the technology shelved for the Kerry-Dublin semi-final the following day.
Derry departed for the dressing room at half-time believing they held a one-point lead, however, the half-time chatter at the venue was dominated by discussion of the Hawk-eye error which saw Shane Walsh's free, plainly visible as a point on TV replays, incorrectly ruled wide by the technology.
Shortly before the interval ended, word filtered through that the point would be added to the score. The decision was announced over the tannoy and the scoreboard was changed just prior to throw-in in the second half.
Is there a problem with HawkEye? Shane Walsh's free late in the half was deemed wide by the technology at Croke Park, but the replay would suggest otherwise
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Glass was positioned under the crossbar for the Walsh free and accepted instantly that it was a point, however he felt the communication over the decision to re-award the point at half-time could have been handled better.
"It was a big grey area," the former AFL star said in a wide-ranging interview with Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
"I actually didn't realise (that the previous point was added on) until they went a point up after Shane Walsh's free kick five minutes into the second half..
"When he did score - pre-half-time - I was standing under the crossbar and it was clearly over the bar. So I was a bit confused obviously with Hawk-eye.
"It wasn't communicated very well, either to the Derry staff or even the referee or GAA officials, that the point was added back on. The players didn't have a clue that it was."
Glass shies away from saying that the decision altered the course of the game but acknowledged that it did throw them slightly.
"It is obviously off-putting. Look, I'm not going to sit here and say that if we'd started the second half a point up, it would have made a big difference, because our second-half performance wasn't too great. But elite sport is about fine margins and if we had that lead going into the second half, it could have changed the dynamic of the game.
"In the heat of the moment, it wasn't communicated well and it wasn't dealt with well by the players ourselves."
Glass himself had a point ruled out by Hawk-eye in the first half, the graphic on the big screen indicating that the ball had gone over the top of the crossbar. The call was re-visited in light of the technology blatantly incorrect intervention on Shane Walsh's free.
However, Glass was himself coyly philosophical about the failure to revisit the incident.
"I'm always going to say it was over the bar! But yeah, it is what it is," he said.
"It is obviously off-putting. Look, I'm not going to sit here and say that if we'd started the second half a point up, it would have made a big difference, because our second half performance wasn't too great.
Asked whether the semi-final had reflected Derry's current level and limitations, Glass insisted that Derry had instead under-performed and expressed the hope that the game would stand to the team in the years ahead.
"Personally, I feel we under-performed. We weren't as far away as the scoreline reflected. Yes, we obviously got a goal late on and it helped the scoreline a little bit. We didn't do ourselves any justice, for the second time this season because Galway gave us a bit of a touching in the league as well.
"Those sort of games will hopefully stand us in good stead over the next three or four years. Because our team is very young. Those sort of losses can only make a team better.
"We showed it in the quarter-final against Clare. We put five goals past them. If you're not defending with 15 men, you're not really playing a team sport. Because we defend with 15 back a bit deeper than most teams, Galway did the same as us.
"It was a very tactical battle, I thought. But we have the players to light up Croke Park, Hopefully, we'll show that next year."
Reflecting on the season, Glass said the mood was downbeat in the immediate after of the Galway semi-final but acknowledged that they'd have to be content with their campaign as a whole.
"Mixed emotions. Directly after the Galway game, it was a bit doom and gloom. But looking back and reflecting on it, and seeing the kids around the county still wearing their Derry tops, it's been a successful year.
"If we had set out at the start of the year that we'd be in this position, you'd have grabbed it with two hands. The ultimate goal is the All-Ireland but there's a process and we're obviously very happy with how we got on this year."
