It's a funny old game but Sam's not laughing
STRIKER Sammy Morrow would gladly have given up the satisfaction his brace of goals had given him, if Derry City captain, Peter Hutton, had been in a position to hoist the FAI Cup into the air at the RDS on Sunday.
The Limavady man who experienced a "funny old game" having been the central character in two of the most controversial incidents in the game, felt Derry City had done "more than enough" to defeat Bohemians at the Ballsbridge venue.
"It was a funny old game for me personally," he said afterwards. "I felt we had done enough to win the game, but so many decisions didn't go our way in this particular match."
And referring immediately to the penalty he felt he should have been awarded, he was mystified at the refereeing decision.
"I was definitely taken down by Owen Heary inside the box during the early stages of the match and I've no doubt about that. It was a definite penalty, but we didn't get it and that was the first decision that went against us.
"And the penalty the referee gave against me in the second half was never a penalty. I headed the ball downwards, it bounced up and hit me on the arm. It was definitely ball to hand, it's not hand to ball, that decision by the referee proved very costly as far as I'm concerned," noted the Derry hitman.
"As I've been told, we're playing down in Dublin and we don't seem to get too many decisions down here. I also think Bohemians will have to hold their hands up and agree that we played them off the park, because we did.
"It's a travesty and it's baffling how we didn't manage to lift that trophy as we did more than enough to win it. But when it comes down to penalties, it is a lottery and no matter what team you are playing, anything can happen. If you're involved in a penalty shoot-out against Manchester United, you have a chance. From our point of view it's a sickening feeling but knowing the quality of this Derry City team, we will certainly be back."
midway through the current campaign, Morrow held the view that the club had enjoyed a great season and while it was disappointing to lose out in the cup final, he preferred to took to the future.
"I think we've had a great season. I think we're now in a position to put a marker down to the rest of the league. We have a very good young side in the dressing room and we're going to get better. In fact, if we managed to add a few new additions I think we would be in a good position to push for the title next year."
Morrow also went out of his way to confirm that he is "thoroughly enjoying" his time at the Brandywell and, indeed, has high hopes that he will secure an extension to his current contract.
"I'm very happy at Derry City. I have another year to run in my contract and I hope to be sitting down with Stephen (Kenny) over the next couple of weeks to discuss my future and see what happens.
"I've had a decent season after overcoming injury, but you will see a much better Sammy Morrow next year. I definitely need a good pre-season behind me that's for sure as I don't believe I'm fit. I think that's evident as some of my play is loose, while some of it is tight. It can be hard in games at times because sometimes I seem to playing against myself, rather than the other team.
"I'm now looking forward to getting a month or two off, coming back and getting in a good pre-season and getting myself back to the level of fitness which I should be playing at."
And when questioned on recent speculation that he had allegedly harboured ambitions of joining Linfield in the future, Morrow dismissed such speculation as "paper talk."
"I was told about the story when my dad rang me to tell me to buy a copy of a newspaper on my way home from training. I did that and I must admit I had a little chuckle to myself when reading it," he said.
"It suggested that I had hopes of joining Linfield which was total nonsense. It was 'paper talk,' nothing else and there was absolutely no truth to the story whatsoever.
"I'm under contract at Derry City, I'm very happy at Derry City and I hope to be sitting down with our manager over the next few weeks to chat about the future. I would like to get a new deal organised if that's possible."
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Weather for Derry
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 4 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: West
