O'Conor reacts to reaching Setanta Cup final
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Drogheda United have sealed their place in the Setanta Sports Cup Final where they will meet Shamrock Rovers on May 11th following a 2-1 aggregate victory over Sligo Rovers.
Speaking after his side's 1-0 defeat in the 2nd leg, Paul O'Conor felt that securing their progress to the Final was not easy and praised the defensive work of his team-mates.
"Reaching the Final didn't come easy, in the first 20 minutes they really came at us and made it very tough. When they scored we regrouped and finished the first half really well, we were happy with how we finished and knew they were going to come at us again in the second half and we had to stay strong, stick together and make sure we put the bodies on the line and that's what we did."
Questions were asked of the referee and the additional officials when they failed to award O'Conor what appeared to be a goal when his shot hit the underside of the crossbar and crossed the line, but the midfielder admitted that he didn't think it was in.
"Some of the lads said it was over the line, but from where I was standing I didn't think it was over the line, I thought it was maybe a yard or two off, I think Gary Rogers also got a touch on it. I would love if it was given, but I'm happy either way once we are in the Final."
This will the second time in eight months that Drogheda United are set to face Shamrock Rovers in a Cup Final in Tallaght Stadium, and following their 3-1 EA Sports Cup triumph last year, O'Conor insists they have no fear going in to this tie.
"We know we have the beating of Shamrock Rovers, we drew 1-1 with them a few weeks ago and that was a good result for us. We have absolutely no fear going in to it, I imagine they will be favourites but we don't mind that, but it's a Cup Final where anything could happen and hopefully we will come out on top."
Drogheda now have a welcome break before their next game and Paul feels it will be of massive benefit for a crucial League game against league leaders.
"We have a good break now, this is the longest break we have had between matches since the the season started so we have a couple of days off to regroup and rest the legs. It's always going to be a tough game when you come to The Showgrounds, the crowd was brilliant and they passed it around like they usually do so we are going to have to make sure that on Saturday we put in the same effort as we did tonight."
Despite going into this game with a 2-0 lead, Drogheda were not prepared to sit back and wanted to get a result on the night.
"The manager wanted us to come out flying and there was no way he would ever allow us to sit back, it's not the way we play, we came here to score goals and we tried to him them on the counter-attack sometimes but we had no interest in sitting back, it's not the way we want to play."
Following a number of draws and a sloppy start to the season, the 25-year-old is confident the Louth side can now push on and achieve the goals they have set for the year.
"We've had one too many draws, but we are starting to pick up now with a few wins on the trot. We are in Sligo again on Saturday and then we finish off this set of fixtures against Bohemians and we are confident we'll take a good result from both games. It was a sloppy start to the season but I think we can really push on now."
Speaking after his side's 1-0 defeat in the 2nd leg, Paul O'Conor felt that securing their progress to the Final was not easy and praised the defensive work of his team-mates.
"Reaching the Final didn't come easy, in the first 20 minutes they really came at us and made it very tough. When they scored we regrouped and finished the first half really well, we were happy with how we finished and knew they were going to come at us again in the second half and we had to stay strong, stick together and make sure we put the bodies on the line and that's what we did."
Questions were asked of the referee and the additional officials when they failed to award O'Conor what appeared to be a goal when his shot hit the underside of the crossbar and crossed the line, but the midfielder admitted that he didn't think it was in.
"Some of the lads said it was over the line, but from where I was standing I didn't think it was over the line, I thought it was maybe a yard or two off, I think Gary Rogers also got a touch on it. I would love if it was given, but I'm happy either way once we are in the Final."
This will the second time in eight months that Drogheda United are set to face Shamrock Rovers in a Cup Final in Tallaght Stadium, and following their 3-1 EA Sports Cup triumph last year, O'Conor insists they have no fear going in to this tie.
"We know we have the beating of Shamrock Rovers, we drew 1-1 with them a few weeks ago and that was a good result for us. We have absolutely no fear going in to it, I imagine they will be favourites but we don't mind that, but it's a Cup Final where anything could happen and hopefully we will come out on top."
Drogheda now have a welcome break before their next game and Paul feels it will be of massive benefit for a crucial League game against league leaders.
"We have a good break now, this is the longest break we have had between matches since the the season started so we have a couple of days off to regroup and rest the legs. It's always going to be a tough game when you come to The Showgrounds, the crowd was brilliant and they passed it around like they usually do so we are going to have to make sure that on Saturday we put in the same effort as we did tonight."
Despite going into this game with a 2-0 lead, Drogheda were not prepared to sit back and wanted to get a result on the night.
"The manager wanted us to come out flying and there was no way he would ever allow us to sit back, it's not the way we play, we came here to score goals and we tried to him them on the counter-attack sometimes but we had no interest in sitting back, it's not the way we want to play."
Following a number of draws and a sloppy start to the season, the 25-year-old is confident the Louth side can now push on and achieve the goals they have set for the year.
"We've had one too many draws, but we are starting to pick up now with a few wins on the trot. We are in Sligo again on Saturday and then we finish off this set of fixtures against Bohemians and we are confident we'll take a good result from both games. It was a sloppy start to the season but I think we can really push on now."
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