Fenlon lauds players as Bohs reach final
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon was quick to heap praise on his players as a 1-0 win over Linfield in the second leg of their Setanta Sports Cup semi-final was enough to send them through to the final.
The Gypsies had never been involved in the cross-border tournament until this year, so no wonder Fenlon was clearly delighted with the victory that his side achieved in Windsor Park on Monday evening.
A Paddy Madden goal after just four minutes proved to be the difference on the night despite Linfield dominating possession and creating the better chances on goal.
Bohs march through to the final with a 3-1 aggregate win and will meet Dublin rivals St Patrick's Athletic in the showpiece event on May 15th.
"It it a great achievement by the players to get themselves into another final," Fenlon told Setanta Sports after the game.
"I was delighted for the players. I thought they put in a tremendous shift. This is a very hard place to come and win matches as the fans get right behind them and they don't lose too many here.
"The early goal obviously made it a bit of an up-hill struggle for them, but I knew they would come out and have a real go at us in the second-half because I don't think David [Jeffrey] would have been happy with their first-half performance.
"I thought we played well in the first-half. In the second-half, we defended really well and that is what we haven't been doing as a team over the last number of weeks. I'm very proud of them because they put their heads and bodies on the line and that's what it takes to win football matches.
"We've been on a little bit of a losing streak so it is important to stop that and win the match. And coming to Windsor is a big place to come and win a match. But we have to put that behind us now and wait for the final as it will be a tough game against St Pat's."
The Gypsies had never been involved in the cross-border tournament until this year, so no wonder Fenlon was clearly delighted with the victory that his side achieved in Windsor Park on Monday evening.
A Paddy Madden goal after just four minutes proved to be the difference on the night despite Linfield dominating possession and creating the better chances on goal.
Bohs march through to the final with a 3-1 aggregate win and will meet Dublin rivals St Patrick's Athletic in the showpiece event on May 15th.
"It it a great achievement by the players to get themselves into another final," Fenlon told Setanta Sports after the game.
"I was delighted for the players. I thought they put in a tremendous shift. This is a very hard place to come and win matches as the fans get right behind them and they don't lose too many here.
"The early goal obviously made it a bit of an up-hill struggle for them, but I knew they would come out and have a real go at us in the second-half because I don't think David [Jeffrey] would have been happy with their first-half performance.
"I thought we played well in the first-half. In the second-half, we defended really well and that is what we haven't been doing as a team over the last number of weeks. I'm very proud of them because they put their heads and bodies on the line and that's what it takes to win football matches.
"We've been on a little bit of a losing streak so it is important to stop that and win the match. And coming to Windsor is a big place to come and win a match. But we have to put that behind us now and wait for the final as it will be a tough game against St Pat's."
