Blues Boss ‘Over The Moon’ With Cup Triumph
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Stephen Henderson watched his Waterford United side lift their first piece of silverware under his stewardship against Rockmount on Tuesday. As the Munster Senior Cup was passed around the Turner’s Cross pitch, Henderson spoke to extratime.ie about the game.
“It was scorching hot and we’re averaging two games a week for the last five weeks. The most important thing was that we got through the match, got a trophy and we didn’t pick up any injuries and there’s nobody shattered from it. We’re over the moon to win the trophy, like you say, that’s the first bit of silverware this year so hopefully there’ll be a bit more to come after it.”
The Blues had much the better of the first-half exchanges but their manager doesn’t believe it was up to standard. “Well no it wasn’t really because I thought we were showboating a bit you know, but then when you look at the game, the way they were passing it about, we felt that if we could get through the whole match like that without exerting too much energy, well then that would be nice. But we nearly paid the price for it in the second half because that kind of relaxed mode caught us in the second half and we allowed Rockmount to come back into it then. All credit to Rockmount they were excellent in the second half.”
Despite their first-half dominance, Waterford were largely bettered by Rockmount in the second half and were perhaps fortunate to avoid extra-time, did this intensity surprise the Blues’ boss? “No because they’re a Cork side, they’re one of the top senior teams in the Munster senior league, so no I was actually a bit surprised at them in the first half, the second half was more what we were expecting from them. Young [Kenneth] Hoey down the right side was excellent for them, he’s a top player.”
The Cork outfit were awarded a rather dubious penalty in the second half from which they pulled a goal back. Henderson was able to smile about the decision afterwards which seemed to be more of a coming together of players challenging for a ball than a foul. “It was yeah. It wasn’t a penalty but it didn’t cost us anything so we’re not going to start giving out about it now.”
This win will have went some way to banishing the negativity of Waterford’s loss to Wexford Youths in their last league game and will surely be good preparation ahead of a crucial clash with Shelbourne on Friday. “Yeah perfect, like all we can do now is rest. Like I said, all the boys have been doing is travelling, playing football matches, working; they haven’t seen their families, that’s the God’s honest truth. They’re just working, playing football, travelling so they’re going to have a rest now, see their families and make sure everybody’s ready for Shelbourne now.”
This match should prove decisive in the race for promotion with the Suirsiders one point ahead of Shels, but the Dublin side have a game in hand. With Waterford still in the hunt for three more trophies Henderson is looking forward to building on this first success. “Well that’s our first medal so, you know, we’re going for a few this year so it was important that we got one under the belt. Like we said to them [the players], get used to winning medals because that’s what it’s all about so we have one there now so now we’ll just focus on Shelbourne on Friday and we can’t wait for that.”
“It was scorching hot and we’re averaging two games a week for the last five weeks. The most important thing was that we got through the match, got a trophy and we didn’t pick up any injuries and there’s nobody shattered from it. We’re over the moon to win the trophy, like you say, that’s the first bit of silverware this year so hopefully there’ll be a bit more to come after it.”
The Blues had much the better of the first-half exchanges but their manager doesn’t believe it was up to standard. “Well no it wasn’t really because I thought we were showboating a bit you know, but then when you look at the game, the way they were passing it about, we felt that if we could get through the whole match like that without exerting too much energy, well then that would be nice. But we nearly paid the price for it in the second half because that kind of relaxed mode caught us in the second half and we allowed Rockmount to come back into it then. All credit to Rockmount they were excellent in the second half.”
Despite their first-half dominance, Waterford were largely bettered by Rockmount in the second half and were perhaps fortunate to avoid extra-time, did this intensity surprise the Blues’ boss? “No because they’re a Cork side, they’re one of the top senior teams in the Munster senior league, so no I was actually a bit surprised at them in the first half, the second half was more what we were expecting from them. Young [Kenneth] Hoey down the right side was excellent for them, he’s a top player.”
The Cork outfit were awarded a rather dubious penalty in the second half from which they pulled a goal back. Henderson was able to smile about the decision afterwards which seemed to be more of a coming together of players challenging for a ball than a foul. “It was yeah. It wasn’t a penalty but it didn’t cost us anything so we’re not going to start giving out about it now.”
This win will have went some way to banishing the negativity of Waterford’s loss to Wexford Youths in their last league game and will surely be good preparation ahead of a crucial clash with Shelbourne on Friday. “Yeah perfect, like all we can do now is rest. Like I said, all the boys have been doing is travelling, playing football matches, working; they haven’t seen their families, that’s the God’s honest truth. They’re just working, playing football, travelling so they’re going to have a rest now, see their families and make sure everybody’s ready for Shelbourne now.”
This match should prove decisive in the race for promotion with the Suirsiders one point ahead of Shels, but the Dublin side have a game in hand. With Waterford still in the hunt for three more trophies Henderson is looking forward to building on this first success. “Well that’s our first medal so, you know, we’re going for a few this year so it was important that we got one under the belt. Like we said to them [the players], get used to winning medals because that’s what it’s all about so we have one there now so now we’ll just focus on Shelbourne on Friday and we can’t wait for that.”
About Dean Hayes
Dean covers Waterford United and, due to a challenge from Gareth, writes in an increasingly Gonzo style. Having found himself with a considerable surplus of a culinary herb, Dean founded sister 'site extrathyme.ie some years … View Full Profile