Buckley beams after Fingal victory
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Sporting Fingal manager spoke exclusively to Extratime.ie in the aftermath of his teams 2-0 victory at Dundalk. We asked if he was happy with the result “Absolutely, bearing in mind that Pats won and Sligo won it was important that we won so it was a very professional approach out there by the lads. We played well, the sending off was messy but it is what it is but we’re delighted.”
Ronan Finn scored the clinching goal with an emphatic finish from the edge of the box, his manager purred when asked about it “Fantastic finish, good bit of football, great pass for him to get through on and a tremendous finish. It put us in the driving seat then at 2-0. The sendings off were a bit messy, both teams kind of went at it and we had to be careful that they might bag a late goal but nonetheless lovely.”
Referee Derek Tomney had a busy evening brandishing five yellow and two straight red cards, to most observers this seemed like refereeing to the letter rather than the spirit of the law and the game. We asked if Liam saw anything that warranted such a response from the official during the match. “No, there wasn’t a bad tackle in the match. The referee has obviously seen it the way he’s seen it. I need to see it on TV my first reaction was that it might be a booking not a sending off, the TV may show something else. The referee is at a different angle, a different slant on it he looked and he felt it was a red card.”
Liam had sympathy for both of the players involved and for his counterparts “From Dundalk’s point of view they do play decent football, they’re a footballing team they don’t hoof it around the park, they get them (Ian Foster and Wayne Hatswell) to try and pass it, we do as well. I never felt there was a bad tackle in the game it’s just unfortunate for Ger (O’Brien) and even for them Ross Gaynor who will miss the last match. It’s kind of harsh on the two lads with the amount of work they’ve put in this season for them to miss the last match. Dundalk will play Bohs which will be a good little game when you bear in mind what’s happened in the league with the way results have gone with Galway/Bohs and Rovers/Drogheda.”
So it will all be down to the last match in the Ravens pursuit of European football next season and with the brand of fluid football they play no one can begrudge them their success. ”
Ronan Finn scored the clinching goal with an emphatic finish from the edge of the box, his manager purred when asked about it “Fantastic finish, good bit of football, great pass for him to get through on and a tremendous finish. It put us in the driving seat then at 2-0. The sendings off were a bit messy, both teams kind of went at it and we had to be careful that they might bag a late goal but nonetheless lovely.”
Referee Derek Tomney had a busy evening brandishing five yellow and two straight red cards, to most observers this seemed like refereeing to the letter rather than the spirit of the law and the game. We asked if Liam saw anything that warranted such a response from the official during the match. “No, there wasn’t a bad tackle in the match. The referee has obviously seen it the way he’s seen it. I need to see it on TV my first reaction was that it might be a booking not a sending off, the TV may show something else. The referee is at a different angle, a different slant on it he looked and he felt it was a red card.”
Liam had sympathy for both of the players involved and for his counterparts “From Dundalk’s point of view they do play decent football, they’re a footballing team they don’t hoof it around the park, they get them (Ian Foster and Wayne Hatswell) to try and pass it, we do as well. I never felt there was a bad tackle in the game it’s just unfortunate for Ger (O’Brien) and even for them Ross Gaynor who will miss the last match. It’s kind of harsh on the two lads with the amount of work they’ve put in this season for them to miss the last match. Dundalk will play Bohs which will be a good little game when you bear in mind what’s happened in the league with the way results have gone with Galway/Bohs and Rovers/Drogheda.”
So it will all be down to the last match in the Ravens pursuit of European football next season and with the brand of fluid football they play no one can begrudge them their success. ”
