The Wales and British Lions veteran flanker fired wide in a nail-biting sudden death penalty shoot to hand Jordan Crane his moment of glory.
But Young refused to point the finger at Williams or Tom James – who also missed a penalty – as the Blues fell agonisingly short of a first Heineken Cup final in 13 years.
Young said: “I really wish it hadn’t been Martyn who missed because no else has given more to this jersey over the years than him. He was in tears in the dressing room and were so were a lot of the boys after losing like that after working their socks off. I guess now we know how the footballers feel after those penalty shoot-outs.
“It’s hard to describe how disappointed we all are. We didn’t play to our potential but we showed how much this means to us.”
The Blues trailed 13-12 at half time and 26-12 with seven minutes remaining before sensational solo tries by Jamie Roberts and Tom James – both converted from the touchline by Ben Blair – sent this dramatic semi-final into extra time and then penalties.
Young said: “We knew if we could get quick ball that we had the pace out wide but it took us until 65 minutes to get clear of the tackle area. Leicester did a great job of slowing us down, but we showed what we could do with those late tries.
“A penalty would have probably settled it in extra-time but both sides were excellent in keeping their discipline, so we had penalties.
“It’s not a great win but it’s a terrible way to lose and coming so close is no consolation.
“No one gave us a chance at the start of the season but I think we’ve won some fans along the way.”
Â
