Loss a bitter pill to swallow for Foster
Credit:
Ian Foster has admitted that Brian Cash’s 89th-winner for Saint Patrick’s Athletic was a “bitter pill to swallow” as eight-man Dundalk crashed out of the FAI Cup at the third round stage despite a brave display at Oriel Park on Friday night.
The Lilywhites were slightly on top when Ciarán McGuigan and JJ Melligan were both shown straight red cards just before the break, but they held out until the dying seconds only for substitute Cash to fire in and send the hosts to a heartbreaking defeat, a dreadful night completed moments later when Garry Breen was also dismissed.
Foster, however, had no complaints about two of the red cards, the 33-year-old Liverpool-born boss more upset by the way his battling troops lost the game.
“It’s a difficult one to take because we seen it out for so long,” Foster said afterwards. “It’s the 90th minute of the match and they’ve scored the winner which is hard to take, because we defended exceptionally well in the second half. The ball has bounced about in the six-yard box, it’s fell to one of their players and he’s stuck it in the back of the net. It’s a difficult one to take but it’s one that we’ll have to learn from, and learn quickly. We said at half-time that you’ve got to defend deep, you’ve got to keep the ball in front and you’ve got to be Trojans, work your socks off and dig in, and we did all that. Unfortunately at the end, it’s bounced to the wrong man and he’s put it away.”
Commenting on the red cards, Foster, while admitting he would like to see it again, felt McGuigan’s dismissal came from a tackle which was no worse than Dave Mulcahy’s lunge on Shaun Kelly in the sides’ league meeting at Oriel Park back in March. But he acknowledged that the other two were warranted.
“I’d like to see McGuigan’s again, but the other two are red cards,” he said. “That’s a huge disappointment, because it’s petulance. That’s a huge disappointment, coupled with the fact that we’ve got an incredibly tough game on Tuesday against Sporting Fingal and we’re out three of our best players. It’s a bitter pill to swallow because the goal has come so late in the day, but we’ll take our medicine and we’ll dust ourselves down. We know that we’re out three, four including Burns, five including Synnott. We’ll have a look at what we’ve got tomorrow (Saturday) and we’ll be ready on Tuesday.”
Kelly returned from injury when replacing Michael McGowan on the hour-mark, and he is likely to come back in from the start against Fingal.
“Shauny just had a groin injury; he did it on Monday in training before we went to Waterford,” Foster revealed. “Ciarán played well down in Waterford and deserved to keep his place in the side. Just unfortunately, he’s got himself sent-off tonight. Like I say, I’d like to have a look at that one. At the time, I thought it was a bit harsh. I’ll have a look at it again on the video and see, but I don’t think it was any worse than Mulcahy’s tackle here. I’ve got no complaints about the way we played. I thought when it was 11 versus 11 that we were dictating the game and I thought we bossed it. I’m disappointed for the players especially that it was so late in the day that they scored.” Following Dundalk’s four previous defeats this term, they have immediately recovered with a win, and on Tuesday they will be aiming to maintain their 100 percent home record against Sporting Fingal.
The Lilywhites were slightly on top when Ciarán McGuigan and JJ Melligan were both shown straight red cards just before the break, but they held out until the dying seconds only for substitute Cash to fire in and send the hosts to a heartbreaking defeat, a dreadful night completed moments later when Garry Breen was also dismissed.
Foster, however, had no complaints about two of the red cards, the 33-year-old Liverpool-born boss more upset by the way his battling troops lost the game.
“It’s a difficult one to take because we seen it out for so long,” Foster said afterwards. “It’s the 90th minute of the match and they’ve scored the winner which is hard to take, because we defended exceptionally well in the second half. The ball has bounced about in the six-yard box, it’s fell to one of their players and he’s stuck it in the back of the net. It’s a difficult one to take but it’s one that we’ll have to learn from, and learn quickly. We said at half-time that you’ve got to defend deep, you’ve got to keep the ball in front and you’ve got to be Trojans, work your socks off and dig in, and we did all that. Unfortunately at the end, it’s bounced to the wrong man and he’s put it away.”
Commenting on the red cards, Foster, while admitting he would like to see it again, felt McGuigan’s dismissal came from a tackle which was no worse than Dave Mulcahy’s lunge on Shaun Kelly in the sides’ league meeting at Oriel Park back in March. But he acknowledged that the other two were warranted.
“I’d like to see McGuigan’s again, but the other two are red cards,” he said. “That’s a huge disappointment, because it’s petulance. That’s a huge disappointment, coupled with the fact that we’ve got an incredibly tough game on Tuesday against Sporting Fingal and we’re out three of our best players. It’s a bitter pill to swallow because the goal has come so late in the day, but we’ll take our medicine and we’ll dust ourselves down. We know that we’re out three, four including Burns, five including Synnott. We’ll have a look at what we’ve got tomorrow (Saturday) and we’ll be ready on Tuesday.”
Kelly returned from injury when replacing Michael McGowan on the hour-mark, and he is likely to come back in from the start against Fingal.
“Shauny just had a groin injury; he did it on Monday in training before we went to Waterford,” Foster revealed. “Ciarán played well down in Waterford and deserved to keep his place in the side. Just unfortunately, he’s got himself sent-off tonight. Like I say, I’d like to have a look at that one. At the time, I thought it was a bit harsh. I’ll have a look at it again on the video and see, but I don’t think it was any worse than Mulcahy’s tackle here. I’ve got no complaints about the way we played. I thought when it was 11 versus 11 that we were dictating the game and I thought we bossed it. I’m disappointed for the players especially that it was so late in the day that they scored.” Following Dundalk’s four previous defeats this term, they have immediately recovered with a win, and on Tuesday they will be aiming to maintain their 100 percent home record against Sporting Fingal.
