Dunne can't hide disappointment
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Cork City boss Tommy Dunne cut a disappointed figure after his side's last-gasp defeat at the hands of Monaghan United on Friday night.
Brian Gartland’s injury time effort, when Dunne’s inexperienced outfit failed to clear four corner kicks in a row, meant City lost out on a point which they probably deserved over the 90 minutes. However, Dunne was also quick to give a United side that “had a good game plan” some credit.
“That Monaghan team are capable of going close to getting promotion,” he said. “We knew that when they were coming down. The first half was scrappy from our side of things, coming back from the horrid Shels pitch last week it was difficult to get ourselves moving again.
“Also, I think Monaghan had a good game plan in trying to stop ourselves from playing. We were a little bit slow; we didn’t start the game well with mistakes here and there. There were half-chances either way but in the second half I thought we were the better team, we played well.”
Cork had the better chances after the interval, with Davin O’Neill going closest with a header driven over the bar midway through the half. The Leesiders couldn’t capitalise though, and in the end it was Gartland who popped up to grab the winner for Mons.
“Monaghan were hitting us on the break and in the end that showed: they got the result. We had our chances, Davin O’Neill had a great chance and Greg O’Halloran had another strike. We had a few other half-chances around the box, a couple of other times at the back-post where we could have been a bit more aggressive.
“Looking back at last week’s game [against Shelbourne] we should have been beaten but this week we ended up getting beaten. What goes around comes around as they say,” Dunne added. “Looking at the performance from our side of things in the second, I was pleased with the play and the attitude and the tempo of our game was a lot better.
“You’ve always got to be looking for the points though and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day. We didn’t and we have to brush ourselves off and get ourselves ready for next week and Finn Harps.”
Brian Gartland’s injury time effort, when Dunne’s inexperienced outfit failed to clear four corner kicks in a row, meant City lost out on a point which they probably deserved over the 90 minutes. However, Dunne was also quick to give a United side that “had a good game plan” some credit.
“That Monaghan team are capable of going close to getting promotion,” he said. “We knew that when they were coming down. The first half was scrappy from our side of things, coming back from the horrid Shels pitch last week it was difficult to get ourselves moving again.
“Also, I think Monaghan had a good game plan in trying to stop ourselves from playing. We were a little bit slow; we didn’t start the game well with mistakes here and there. There were half-chances either way but in the second half I thought we were the better team, we played well.”
Cork had the better chances after the interval, with Davin O’Neill going closest with a header driven over the bar midway through the half. The Leesiders couldn’t capitalise though, and in the end it was Gartland who popped up to grab the winner for Mons.
“Monaghan were hitting us on the break and in the end that showed: they got the result. We had our chances, Davin O’Neill had a great chance and Greg O’Halloran had another strike. We had a few other half-chances around the box, a couple of other times at the back-post where we could have been a bit more aggressive.
“Looking back at last week’s game [against Shelbourne] we should have been beaten but this week we ended up getting beaten. What goes around comes around as they say,” Dunne added. “Looking at the performance from our side of things in the second, I was pleased with the play and the attitude and the tempo of our game was a lot better.
“You’ve always got to be looking for the points though and that’s the most important thing at the end of the day. We didn’t and we have to brush ourselves off and get ourselves ready for next week and Finn Harps.”
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile