Mathews happy with performance after Bray defeat
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Alan Mathews insists there is no complacency at United Park after the 2-1 defeat to Bray on Friday night. Speaking after the game the Drogheda manager talked about how the result was just part and parcel of the game.
“We won up in Derry last week and got beaten by Bray, that’s football. We scored an own goal with their first entry into our half, then they got a 30 yard screamer so you might say it was just one of those nights. But we dominated the second half, we had a lot of chances and their keeper made some great saves.”
When asked if there was any complacency after the recent good run Matthews refuted the suggestion immediately. “There was no complacency, we dominated the first fifteen minutes, we had good possession and had them on the back foot. They got the goal from their first venture into our half and we somewhat lost our way from there. They then got the bonus of getting the second goal soon after and then they placed men behind the ball which gave them confidence.
“In the second half we took the game by the scruff of the neck and we got ourselves in lots of crossing positions and got good balls into the box, the goalkeeper made some good saves and they managed to hack one or two others off the line so I can’t fault the players for that effort.
In this league you can’t give any team a two goal lead and expect to claw it back, we’ve learnt that lesson very vividly this week. And as I say we’ll dust ourselves down, we got the three points last week up in Derry and now we’ll just push on and prepare for the next game.”
Speaking about Guy Bates, who made his debut on the night, Mathews said he made a good contribution when he came on. “He might not be at the fitness level he needs just yet, but he did well when he came off the bench.” Both himself and Brendan McGill have worked well and we also got Scott Gibb in to give some competition within the team.
Drogheda face a trip down to Dundalk this Friday with a 7.45pm kick off in Oriel Park.
“We won up in Derry last week and got beaten by Bray, that’s football. We scored an own goal with their first entry into our half, then they got a 30 yard screamer so you might say it was just one of those nights. But we dominated the second half, we had a lot of chances and their keeper made some great saves.”
When asked if there was any complacency after the recent good run Matthews refuted the suggestion immediately. “There was no complacency, we dominated the first fifteen minutes, we had good possession and had them on the back foot. They got the goal from their first venture into our half and we somewhat lost our way from there. They then got the bonus of getting the second goal soon after and then they placed men behind the ball which gave them confidence.
“In the second half we took the game by the scruff of the neck and we got ourselves in lots of crossing positions and got good balls into the box, the goalkeeper made some good saves and they managed to hack one or two others off the line so I can’t fault the players for that effort.
In this league you can’t give any team a two goal lead and expect to claw it back, we’ve learnt that lesson very vividly this week. And as I say we’ll dust ourselves down, we got the three points last week up in Derry and now we’ll just push on and prepare for the next game.”
Speaking about Guy Bates, who made his debut on the night, Mathews said he made a good contribution when he came on. “He might not be at the fitness level he needs just yet, but he did well when he came off the bench.” Both himself and Brendan McGill have worked well and we also got Scott Gibb in to give some competition within the team.
Drogheda face a trip down to Dundalk this Friday with a 7.45pm kick off in Oriel Park.
About P.J. Murray
P.J. generally covers Drogheda games at HD Park and can generally be found at any Dublin ground when of a loose end on a Friday night. View Full Profile