Mahon delighted with 'great win'
Pete Mahon cut a relieved figure in Morton Stadium after his St. Patrick’s Athletic side beat Sporting Fingal 3-2 with a late Derek Doyle winner on Monday night.
"We'd only won one game in five so it was important that we won tonight" admitted Mahon. "We didn't want to lose our top two place in the league, we've been there all year. If we had lost here tonight we could have maybe ended up fourth. It was a great win for us."
Although Pats were more than happy with the result, Mahon acknowledges that his side's first half performance- they went in to half-time 1-0 down- was below par. "The first half was a non-event, a kind of a sparring match."
But Mahon went on to laud his team's second half effort: "We matched up to their system and I thought we outplayed them in the second half. There's been a lot of things said about their system and the way they play, but I thought we played really well in the second half. The three goals we got [were] top drawer. I'm really pleased with that win."
Another object of Mahon's praise was the backroom staff and players at St. Pats, who he credits with their fine season. "There's no full-time club that have beaten us this year, so there's great credit due to John [Gill] and the staff here who have worked really hard and great credit due to the players too. They're a very professional bunch of lads and I'm just hoping that we can keep this going."
Although The Saints are chasing first-placed Shamrock Rovers, Mahon says he isn't too worried about any of Pats' title rivals: "I don't really care about anybody else because if we don't win our matches then it doesn't really matter. If other teams drop points then that's a bonus. We have to match their results and beat them when we play them."
Pats face into a Friday FAI Cup clash against non-league Belgrove, and Mahon was quick to say how important the cup is to the Inchicore club. "It's a very important competition for St. Pats as a club and our supporters and I know the importance of it. We're playing against a non-league team which is not ideal, but being totally honest I suppose you'd want to play a non-league team at home. We'll have to prepare for it properly- we certainly won't underestimate them, that's for sure. I think if we approach the game properly we'll beat them."
Mahon does have a few injury concerns ahead of Friday's fourth round match, and says that he may have to call in some of the under 20 squad as back-up. "Conor Kenna and Ryan Guy are doubtful, they got bangs to the head. We'll have the doctors in assessing them and if they've got concussion well then that's going to cause us a problem. We're down to the bare bones, we only had sixteen players tonight. We'll have to call in one or two of the under-20 team to supplement the squad for Friday."
"We'd only won one game in five so it was important that we won tonight" admitted Mahon. "We didn't want to lose our top two place in the league, we've been there all year. If we had lost here tonight we could have maybe ended up fourth. It was a great win for us."
Although Pats were more than happy with the result, Mahon acknowledges that his side's first half performance- they went in to half-time 1-0 down- was below par. "The first half was a non-event, a kind of a sparring match."
But Mahon went on to laud his team's second half effort: "We matched up to their system and I thought we outplayed them in the second half. There's been a lot of things said about their system and the way they play, but I thought we played really well in the second half. The three goals we got [were] top drawer. I'm really pleased with that win."
Another object of Mahon's praise was the backroom staff and players at St. Pats, who he credits with their fine season. "There's no full-time club that have beaten us this year, so there's great credit due to John [Gill] and the staff here who have worked really hard and great credit due to the players too. They're a very professional bunch of lads and I'm just hoping that we can keep this going."
Although The Saints are chasing first-placed Shamrock Rovers, Mahon says he isn't too worried about any of Pats' title rivals: "I don't really care about anybody else because if we don't win our matches then it doesn't really matter. If other teams drop points then that's a bonus. We have to match their results and beat them when we play them."
Pats face into a Friday FAI Cup clash against non-league Belgrove, and Mahon was quick to say how important the cup is to the Inchicore club. "It's a very important competition for St. Pats as a club and our supporters and I know the importance of it. We're playing against a non-league team which is not ideal, but being totally honest I suppose you'd want to play a non-league team at home. We'll have to prepare for it properly- we certainly won't underestimate them, that's for sure. I think if we approach the game properly we'll beat them."
Mahon does have a few injury concerns ahead of Friday's fourth round match, and says that he may have to call in some of the under 20 squad as back-up. "Conor Kenna and Ryan Guy are doubtful, they got bangs to the head. We'll have the doctors in assessing them and if they've got concussion well then that's going to cause us a problem. We're down to the bare bones, we only had sixteen players tonight. We'll have to call in one or two of the under-20 team to supplement the squad for Friday."