But even the absence of the duo for the majority of the contest - Mackey was introduced at half-time - cannot be an excuse for the poor Breffni display during the 73 minutes of action.
Ric Klass cannot be excused for making "Excuse Me for Living," a lumbering mess in which he has somehow trapped several recognizable actors.
However, the complexity of the conflict cannot be an excuse for continued inaction.
And, as expected, he insisted that the legal troubles of Silvio Berlusconi cannot be an excuse to bring the country's government down.
Obligatory enrolment in the SS and other Nazi units has never been and cannot be an excuse for whitewashing the murder of Jews.
The lack of much outside interest in the bloodshed while it happened cannot be an excuse for continuing to ignore the situation.
"Concern about the deficit cannot be an excuse for leaving unemployed workers to suffer," Ms. Romer said.
The crisis cannot be an excuse not to think about sustainable development.
Compare it with the Stirling prize-winning Sainsbury Laboratory in Cambridge and the difference is striking: the clunks cannot be excused as the inevitabilities of a working science lab.
The pursuit of the best [law] cannot be an excuse for delaying a good one".
