“I think that tonight was a big step forward for the club in the past five years and I know that with the boys in that dressing room, there will be more nights to come; we’ll learn off this for sure.”

There were the words of St Oliver Plunkett co-manager Eoghan McGonigle after his side's 3-2 Intermediate Cup defeat at the hands of Crumlin Star under the lights of Windsor Park on Tuesday evening.
 
McGonigle commented on his side's performance and believed that the big occasion had startled his side in the opening minutes of the game.
 
“I think just we were sort of got caught in the headlights as far, when we came out and saw the size of the crowd and probably that’s what knocked and startled us in the first ten minutes of the game,” said the Plunkett coach.

“That’s not a bad thing though the crowd were amazing and helped us tremendously, but it was just something these lads had never experienced before and it took them a while to get going. We had prepared well and the whole set-up was just a phenomenal experience that we found ourselves in awe with for the first ten minutes.
 
“Obviously we didn’t give ourselves the best start, going two goals down, especially in a cup final it’s not ideal, but full credit to our boys they showed the character and the guts to try and get themselves back into the game.”

Star found themselves two goals to the good after a sluggish start from Plunkett left themselves wide open when Stephen Smyth poked home in the third minute of play. Kevin Lynch would double the lead for Star in the 11th minute of the game.
 
Plunkett ended the half down by two but fought back brilliantly in the second half with Michael Healy’s volley making it game-on minutes into the second period before Eugene Reid’s back-post finish made it level.
 
“I thought that it would just come down to a moment of brilliance from one of the teams and genuinely when Gino made it 2-2, I thought it was going to be us but one of their boys (Stephen Smyth) popped up with a smashing goal and fair play to Star it was just going to be their night,” said McGonigle.

Plunkett's Conall Duffy slides into make a challenge
2Gallery

Plunkett's Conall Duffy slides into make a challenge

Stephen Smyth would end Plunkett’s cup dream when he cracked a brilliant strike into the top corner with less than 15 minutes to play.

Co-manager Eoghan McGonigle believed his side did, however, do very well in using the very large size of the national stadium. 

“We prepared for the pitch and used Gaelic pitches to train and I feel like it was good in the build-up to the final which was a massive help for our squad in terms of fitness and I feel like we really showed how brilliant we could be in replicating," he reflected.

"It was just unfortunate that we shot ourselves in the foot by gifting two early goals away, but that was one part of our game which I thought we were fantastic.
 
“It’s the 20th anniversary since our first team got to a cup final when we played in the Junior Shield, and we beat an Ardoyne side night funnily enough but since then we’ve never been to a cup final since,” said the coach.
 
Plunkett co-manager Liam Burns also commented on his side's cup final disappointment but felt his squad gave absolutely everything.
 
“I think it was the big occasion and it was massive to get to where we are at," he offered.

"Crumlin Star have been at this level for years and you can see that. But we are at that level, no doubt about that, I think with it being the big occasion, it just took us a while to get out feet under the table.”
 
“They gave everything and could see them coming off. We used the full squad and the quality in that squad and depth of it is scary, but it is something that gives me confidence in pushing on.”