Jack Byrne doffed his cap at Dundalk but said it was ‘madness’ to play a rugby international the day before the FAI Cup final.
The Aviva Stadium pitch was in bad nick after Ireland’s clash with Scotland on Saturday afternoon.
And Shamrock Rovers ace Byrne said: “It’s a joke, the condition it’s in. It’s madness playing a rugby match the day before the Cup final but I won’t get into it.”
But Byrne felt Dundalk won the game fair and square after taking their chances while Rovers squandered theirs.
“These are always knife edge games and we gave it our all,” he added, while stressing that he hasn’t made a decision on his future yet despite being out of contract.
“We did well to get back into the game, but it felt like we were running out of steam. Dundalk are a good side with good players and they deserved to win the Cup.”
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley was frustrated to see their first double bid in 33 years unravel after such a promising start.
But he said: “We played really well and Dundalk had spells. But we didn't take our chances and you can’t do that in the Cup final against a decent side.
“We had enough chances to win it and we were chasing our own bit of history (with a first unbeaten double in 95 years).
“Dundalk hung in the game and had we taken our chances it would have been a completely different game.
“They are a good side with really good players and we knew they would leave everything out there. It didn’t fall our way.”
Bradley felt Joey O’Brien’s enforced withdrawal with injury at half-time was a hammer blow - but said it wasn’t an excuse.
“It wasn’t great considering what he brings to the group but we felt we still had enough on the pitch to win the game. We had a lot of chances but didn’t take them.”
