Corral injury a blow says Esch manager

Jeunesse Esch boss Carlo Weis believes losing Ken Corral to injury early in the first-half disrupted his side during their 1-0 defeat to St. Patrick's Athletic in Richmond Park on Tuesday.

In the 18^th minute, Esch striker Corral chased a through ball from Patrick Stumpf as the Luxembourg outfit sought to counter-attack from a misplaced Graham Kelly pass. Corral spotted Pat's goalkeeper Brendan Clarke off his line and attempted to lob him from 25 yards, but Clarke read the intention and saved easily. Corral, meanwhile, held the back of his leg and cast a worried look towards the Esch bench.

Five minutes later, the Esch number seven chased a long ball but properly pulled up this time with what looked like a hamstring injury. He attempted to run it off as Pat's counter-attacked, but the 24 year old was forced to sit down and wait for a break in play before being seen to by the Esch medical staff and inevitably substituted.

While Weis, speaking at the post-match press conference largely through an interpreter, acknowledged his side's improved second-half performance, he felt the loss of Corral impacted on Esch's chances of overturning the one-goal deficit.

“Yes, I think we have a good team, but I think in the first-half the injury to our player Ken Corral was not so good for us,” Weis told media in his own English. “It was a big handicap for us, he's a very important player for us.”

When asked if he thought Corral could recover in time for the second-leg in Esch-sur-Alzette, Weis replied, “I think no.”

It was a low-point for Esch in a first-half which Pat's dominated for large spells after taking a tenth minute lead through Christy Fagan. The Saints striker had two more chances to double his tally before the half-time interval, one of them a header from point-blank range in the 36^th minute. Ian Bermingham and Graham Kelly also saw headed opportunities miss the target.

Speaking through his interpreter, Weis said he would have preferred to lose 2-1 rather than 1-0, admitting that his team had problems with the pace of the game in the first-half and had difficulty finding their rhythm. The former Luxembourg international added that Pat's played as he expected them to and felt that the hosts were more prepared by virtue of being mid-season.

That said, Esch improved in the second-half and almost equalised on two occasions through Patrick Stumpf. Both chances came from Giancarlo Pinna crosses 20 minutes apart. The first found its way to Stumpf at the backpost who contrived to blast his side's best chance of the game off target from inside six yards; the second, Stumpf looped high over Clarke only to see Darren Dennehy clear off the line.

Weis, through his interpreter, said that it had been a narrow defeat and that the second-half performance can give them hope ahead of the return leg. In his own English, the 57 year old added that he expected a big turnout in the Stade de la Frontière next Tuesday.

“We hope about 2,000,” said the Esch boss. “Yes, it could be very big for us so we have a good support now.”

Esch played Dundalk in the Europa League two seasons ago and lost 5-1 on aggregate, losing the second-leg in Oriel Park 3-1. The 2016 team have arguably bettered their away result from that tie, and while Weis wasn't in charge two years ago, he believes his team this season is stronger than the one which finished fourth in the National Division in 2015/16.

“I wasn't coach at this moment,” Weis replied in English when asked to compare this team with the one which faced Dundalk. “It's difficult to say for me, but I think this year we have a good team, a very good team, a better team than last year.”