Cousins pleased with dominant display
Credit:
It may not have been vintage and it definitely was far from a classic
but for Longford Town manager Tony Cousins he was pleased with
Saturday night’s 0-0 with Athlone Town in El Grand Classico.
The Town, Longford Town that is, had the better of the chances in a drab encounter. Although disappointed not to come away with the three points Cousins was happy with his team’s performance. “It was good to keep a cleansheet and we dominated the match,” he told Extratime. “It seemed they were happy with the draw. The ball just wasn’t going to go for us. I wanted a response after the Mervue game and I think we got it. We looked a lot better. It was a good team performance but didn’t get our just rewards.” The performance of his players in the 2-2 draw with Mervue United in their previous game really frustrated Cousins. He was honest about how he felt about that game.
“I was so down after the Mervue game, couldn’t get over it for a week. At least it’s a little bit of a pick me up by the performance. The players were told how bad they were. The one thing we did get against Athlone was the response; there was a good work-rate and we dominated the game. But unfortunately we didn’t get the three points,” the Town boss said.
Longford Town did find the back of the net on Saturday night but it was controversially ruled out for offside. Cousins admitted it was a big call from the linesman; ironically the same one that allowed Shels’ goal to stand a few weeks ago in Flancare.
He said, “It was a blatant goal. I can understand they are split decisions and some offside decisions just catch the linesman’s eye but not this one. Things like that cost you points. That’s four points in the last few weeks that linesman has cost us. Every point is precious. At the end of the day everybody makes mistakes but he has made two. That’s like a technical mistake. That is not knowing the rules and I can’t deflect away from that.”
With just three games remaining Cousins admitted that he is considering his options for next season. He wants to keep the bulk of the team and it’s up to players to show they’re worth keeping.
“I’m going to look at the rest of the performances between now and the end of the season. I’ll do my homework in the off-season and prepare for next year. It’s about keeping what I want. I have a few in mind who I want to keep. I told them after the Mervue game that I was putting everything on hold. I will over the next few weeks start keeping who I want to keep and I’ll also look at what I want to bring in. I want players in that can improve us,” the Town boss said.
The Town, Longford Town that is, had the better of the chances in a drab encounter. Although disappointed not to come away with the three points Cousins was happy with his team’s performance. “It was good to keep a cleansheet and we dominated the match,” he told Extratime. “It seemed they were happy with the draw. The ball just wasn’t going to go for us. I wanted a response after the Mervue game and I think we got it. We looked a lot better. It was a good team performance but didn’t get our just rewards.” The performance of his players in the 2-2 draw with Mervue United in their previous game really frustrated Cousins. He was honest about how he felt about that game.
“I was so down after the Mervue game, couldn’t get over it for a week. At least it’s a little bit of a pick me up by the performance. The players were told how bad they were. The one thing we did get against Athlone was the response; there was a good work-rate and we dominated the game. But unfortunately we didn’t get the three points,” the Town boss said.
Longford Town did find the back of the net on Saturday night but it was controversially ruled out for offside. Cousins admitted it was a big call from the linesman; ironically the same one that allowed Shels’ goal to stand a few weeks ago in Flancare.
He said, “It was a blatant goal. I can understand they are split decisions and some offside decisions just catch the linesman’s eye but not this one. Things like that cost you points. That’s four points in the last few weeks that linesman has cost us. Every point is precious. At the end of the day everybody makes mistakes but he has made two. That’s like a technical mistake. That is not knowing the rules and I can’t deflect away from that.”
With just three games remaining Cousins admitted that he is considering his options for next season. He wants to keep the bulk of the team and it’s up to players to show they’re worth keeping.
“I’m going to look at the rest of the performances between now and the end of the season. I’ll do my homework in the off-season and prepare for next year. It’s about keeping what I want. I have a few in mind who I want to keep. I told them after the Mervue game that I was putting everything on hold. I will over the next few weeks start keeping who I want to keep and I’ll also look at what I want to bring in. I want players in that can improve us,” the Town boss said.
