Kenna - We've got to get better
Credit:
There was a tangible sense of relief, despair and disappointment all in equal measure at the final whistle of the League of Ireland Premier Division game between St. Patrick’s Athletic and Drogheda United at Richmond Park tonight.
Relief from Jeff Kenna that his side held on in the dying minutes to claim a deserved victory, despair from Alan Matthews that his side fell to yet another defeat and disappointment from both managers as they felt that their teams didn’t perform to anything like the standard expected of them.
Victorious St.Patrick’s Athletic boss Kenna complained: “I would like us to be better, I didn’t think we passed the ball around well enough, we didn’t create enough opportunities” but he conceded “On the back of three defeats, I’m obviously delighted we got the win.”
When asked if the game came a good time for his team given Drogheda’s poor recent form Kenna wasn’t convinced. “You could argue that we were struggling as well having come of the back of three defeats” adding:”It was the most important game for us because it was the next game, so, whether it was a good time to get them or not, I don’t think so. ”
And paid respect to Matthew’s coaching: “They’re difficult to beat, they’re well organised and that proved to be the case tonight.”
Assessing his first few months at the club Kenna said: “Obviously you’d like to be further along; Pat’s is a big club. The expectation level is huge with the fans and that comes with being at a big club. At the moment we’re the model of inconsistency, four wins, four defeats. We’ve got to get better.”
In terms of returning injured players Kenna advised, “Darragh (Ryan) and Gareth O’Connor sat on the bench tonight and neither of them were fit enough to play. So hopefully with another week of treatment they’ll be certainly in the frame for next week but other than that no.”
When asked of the well being of Glen Fitzpatrick the former Republic of Ireland international had no update, “He’s still in hospital, He’s having more tests. At the moment they haven’t been able to put their finger on what the problem is so that’s all I know at the minute.”
Looking ahead to next Saturday’s Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers an excited Kenna commented, “It’s a fantastic game, I think they’ve had a good win tonight so they’ll be really looking forward to it. Another Dublin derby and hopefully we can get a result there.”
Matthews on the other hand was more direct in his criticism, “I’m just disappointed with the way we played this evening. We didn’t do enough with the ball, didn’t do enough without it. (We) Weren’t helped by some poor play giving them the initiative for the first goal and as I say the second goal could have bee defended better.”
“Overall I don’t think we were good tonight and that’s the disappointing thing really.”
Matthews refused to point the finger at rookie defender Eoghan Osbourne for his mistake that led to the opening goal, “He was brilliant, he was excellent last Monday out in Bray and he had an excellent game tonight.”
The Drogheda manager instead blamed a lack of communication from his more experienced defenders, “The players around him should have been able to talk to him better, give him better communication and deal with it.”
Matthew’s was also left to rue what could have, and possibly should have, been a late equaliser from goal scorer Mark Duggan. “Despite the fact that we we’re two nothing down I felt that if we got a goal we’d put them on the rack and we did. Again, that last minute one from Mark Duggan could have gone the other side of the post and we’d have got a two all out of it.”
Pat’s travel to Tallaght in next weekend’s glamour tie while Matthews and his men have to try and conjure up a way of getting their first win of the season at home to Sligo Rovers.
Relief from Jeff Kenna that his side held on in the dying minutes to claim a deserved victory, despair from Alan Matthews that his side fell to yet another defeat and disappointment from both managers as they felt that their teams didn’t perform to anything like the standard expected of them.
Victorious St.Patrick’s Athletic boss Kenna complained: “I would like us to be better, I didn’t think we passed the ball around well enough, we didn’t create enough opportunities” but he conceded “On the back of three defeats, I’m obviously delighted we got the win.”
When asked if the game came a good time for his team given Drogheda’s poor recent form Kenna wasn’t convinced. “You could argue that we were struggling as well having come of the back of three defeats” adding:”It was the most important game for us because it was the next game, so, whether it was a good time to get them or not, I don’t think so. ”
And paid respect to Matthew’s coaching: “They’re difficult to beat, they’re well organised and that proved to be the case tonight.”
Assessing his first few months at the club Kenna said: “Obviously you’d like to be further along; Pat’s is a big club. The expectation level is huge with the fans and that comes with being at a big club. At the moment we’re the model of inconsistency, four wins, four defeats. We’ve got to get better.”
In terms of returning injured players Kenna advised, “Darragh (Ryan) and Gareth O’Connor sat on the bench tonight and neither of them were fit enough to play. So hopefully with another week of treatment they’ll be certainly in the frame for next week but other than that no.”
When asked of the well being of Glen Fitzpatrick the former Republic of Ireland international had no update, “He’s still in hospital, He’s having more tests. At the moment they haven’t been able to put their finger on what the problem is so that’s all I know at the minute.”
Looking ahead to next Saturday’s Dublin derby with Shamrock Rovers an excited Kenna commented, “It’s a fantastic game, I think they’ve had a good win tonight so they’ll be really looking forward to it. Another Dublin derby and hopefully we can get a result there.”
Matthews on the other hand was more direct in his criticism, “I’m just disappointed with the way we played this evening. We didn’t do enough with the ball, didn’t do enough without it. (We) Weren’t helped by some poor play giving them the initiative for the first goal and as I say the second goal could have bee defended better.”
“Overall I don’t think we were good tonight and that’s the disappointing thing really.”
Matthews refused to point the finger at rookie defender Eoghan Osbourne for his mistake that led to the opening goal, “He was brilliant, he was excellent last Monday out in Bray and he had an excellent game tonight.”
The Drogheda manager instead blamed a lack of communication from his more experienced defenders, “The players around him should have been able to talk to him better, give him better communication and deal with it.”
Matthew’s was also left to rue what could have, and possibly should have, been a late equaliser from goal scorer Mark Duggan. “Despite the fact that we we’re two nothing down I felt that if we got a goal we’d put them on the rack and we did. Again, that last minute one from Mark Duggan could have gone the other side of the post and we’d have got a two all out of it.”
Pat’s travel to Tallaght in next weekend’s glamour tie while Matthews and his men have to try and conjure up a way of getting their first win of the season at home to Sligo Rovers.
About Eoin Manning
Eoin Manning has been a part of the extratime.ie reporting team since 2009 and covers the Dublin clubs. Eoin also writes for many of the countries national newspapers and can be contacted at eoinpmanning@gmail.com View Full Profile