Cooke looks forward to another cup final
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Drogheda United are returning to Tallaght Stadium to face Shamrock Rovers in Cup competition again as they secured their place in the Setanta Sports Cup Final on Monday.
The Louth side progressed following a 2-1 aggregate win over Sligo Rovers, but it perhaps should have been 3-1 as Paul O'Conor was not awarded a goal to make it 1-1 in the second leg after his shot appeared to bounce over the line.
Speaking to extratime.ie after the game, Drogs manager Mick Cooke did not dwell on the decision and focused on what was another great night for the club.
"It was questionable, but these things happen when you don't have goal-line technology. I would like to think it was in, but thankfully it didn't matter to us in the end. I thought it was a good game and it was brilliant to come to Sligo and get the result we needed against the best team in the country and it means another great day out for the fans of this club.
"I thought we were put under a lot of pressure and we weren't able to play like we wanted to, but we showed great resilience and we had some good passing moves, some half chances and we can look forward to Saturday."
Drogheda do battle with the league leaders once again on Saturday and Cooke expects another good performance from the home side as they aim to get some early revenge.
"I don't think the match on Saturday will be as intense as it was tonight but obviously at this stage I am sure Sligo will want to put one over on us. We have beaten them in two Semi-Finals in less than a year and I am sure they want a bit of revenge."
Following a busy fixture schedule over the past week, Mick confirmed that he has no injury concerns going into next weekends encounter.
"We will see them all in the morning, but we have no worries at the moment and I am sure after that result no one has any injuries because they only seem to start kicking in when you aren't winning!."
While most teams will sit back on a 2-0 lead, Cooke was not prepared to do this as Sligo pegged them back for much of the game, but overall he was pleased with his side's effort on the night.
"I don't believe in setting up to defend, if you have a team the quality of Sligo Rovers to push you back then there's nothing you can do and that's exactly what they did for a lot of tonight's game. They showed just how good they were and I thought we done well to go in at half-time just 1-0 down and overall I am pleased with the effort we put in."
Finally, he praised the travelling support and is confident that they will travel in big numbers for the Cup decider on May 11th.
"When I first came to Drogheda, we were struggling at the bottom of the league, but these fans have been tremendous to the club through thick and thin. They travelled in great numbers to last season's Final in Tallaght and I think we could bring twice as much this time around."
Speaking to extratime.ie after the game, Drogs manager Mick Cooke did not dwell on the decision and focused on what was another great night for the club.
"It was questionable, but these things happen when you don't have goal-line technology. I would like to think it was in, but thankfully it didn't matter to us in the end. I thought it was a good game and it was brilliant to come to Sligo and get the result we needed against the best team in the country and it means another great day out for the fans of this club.
"I thought we were put under a lot of pressure and we weren't able to play like we wanted to, but we showed great resilience and we had some good passing moves, some half chances and we can look forward to Saturday."
Drogheda do battle with the league leaders once again on Saturday and Cooke expects another good performance from the home side as they aim to get some early revenge.
"I don't think the match on Saturday will be as intense as it was tonight but obviously at this stage I am sure Sligo will want to put one over on us. We have beaten them in two Semi-Finals in less than a year and I am sure they want a bit of revenge."
Following a busy fixture schedule over the past week, Mick confirmed that he has no injury concerns going into next weekends encounter.
"We will see them all in the morning, but we have no worries at the moment and I am sure after that result no one has any injuries because they only seem to start kicking in when you aren't winning!."
While most teams will sit back on a 2-0 lead, Cooke was not prepared to do this as Sligo pegged them back for much of the game, but overall he was pleased with his side's effort on the night.
"I don't believe in setting up to defend, if you have a team the quality of Sligo Rovers to push you back then there's nothing you can do and that's exactly what they did for a lot of tonight's game. They showed just how good they were and I thought we done well to go in at half-time just 1-0 down and overall I am pleased with the effort we put in."
Finally, he praised the travelling support and is confident that they will travel in big numbers for the Cup decider on May 11th.
"When I first came to Drogheda, we were struggling at the bottom of the league, but these fans have been tremendous to the club through thick and thin. They travelled in great numbers to last season's Final in Tallaght and I think we could bring twice as much this time around."
About Alan Finn
Alan Finn is a Sligo based reporter who joined the Extratime crew in 2012. If there is a match on in The Showgrounds, it is likely you will find him there. View Full Profile