McDonnell: “The better team won”

St Patrick’s Athletic manager John McDonnell felt his side were well worthy of the three points as his side ran out one nil winners against Bohemians in an action-packed Dublin derby at Dalymount Park.

Speaking to extratime.ie after the game, McDonnell said: “Overall I think we created the best clear cut chances. We said from the start that we didn’t want to concede a goal and obviously we wanted to get something from the game. From start to finish our work rate was fantastic all over the pitch.

“They came at us for ten-fifteen minutes, but I think we created more chances. Overall, to come over here and keep a clean sheet and take the three points, it’s a great night’s work. To come here and get something would have been good, but to get three points is fantastic,” he added.

McDonnell was particularly pleased with the performance of Keith Fahey, whose wonder strike from 35 yards after 13 minutes secured the points. “I see him doing it in training every day, so it’s not a surprise for me. To do it on the training pitch is easy. To step up to the plate and do it in a match is a different story. We’ve always seen him being a similar player to Kevin Hunt and tonight he was better than Kevin Hunt. His array of passing, his shooting and his running with the ball is fantastic. He’s maturing into a really good player.”

While McDonnell was full of praise for his side’s overall performance, he expressed disappointment over the sending-off’s of Dessie Byrne and goalkeeper Barry Ryan in the closing stages of the game.

The Pat’s boss said: “I’ve just been saying to the lads in there about making it easy for the referee to send someone off. If you kick the ball away whether it’s only two feet or twenty feet away, the referee has an easy decision to make. The other booking I think he said was for an elbow. I’ve just seen it there on the monitor and I don’t think it was a bookable offence.

“Barry has got himself involved in something that’s not really to do with him. He should have stayed where he was, but again he’s made it easy for the referee. Barry was sparked off by something, but you’ve got to keep your composure and remain in control in those situations. We’re winning the match so he shouldn’t have got involved,” McDonnell added

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