Cook takes the positives from defeat

Paul Cook had mixed emotions after watching his Sligo Rovers side lose to Bohemians in their EA Sports Cup semi-final on Monday.

The Liverpool native felt let down by some of the decisions made by referee Richie Winter during the game, including the dismissal of Martin Camaro.

However, he was proud of how his players performed against a team that he describes as the ‘best in Ireland’.

Despite taking the lead through Matthew Blinkhorn and bouncing back from a Neale Fenn goal with a penalty from Alan Keane, the game began to slip away from Sligo as Bohemians started to dominate.

A last minute goal from Paul Keegan brought the fixture into extra-time and Cook admits that his team were always going to struggle in that period, but was still complimentary of how his troops played overall.

“I’m sick (at not reaching the final). It’s been the story of our season so far – coming so close, but still so far,” Cook said after the match.

“I think we showed tonight at times that we are a decent team and we’ve got some smashing footballers. We haven’t had a lot of luck with injuries and different stuff.

“If we play like that more regularly I won’t have any problems that’s for sure.

“We knew what was coming from Bohs in extra-time and I think that extra-time was a step too far for us.”