Mahon moves on from Cup defeat
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Pete Mahon saw his St Patrick’s Athletic side edged out of the Setanta Cup on Tuesday night, despite beating Belfast club Cliftonville 2-0 at Richmond Park. Their 3-0 defeat at Solitude a week earlier meant that it was the Irish League club that progressed to the quarter finals, but when Mahon met up with extratime after the game he was in a sanguine frame of mind.
“We’d a bit of a mountain to climb after the first leg, you know. The game tonight was something similar (Pats had had the bulk of possession in both games) but at the same time I felt we had better chances tonight than we had up there. And we defended better tonight as well. So overall, over the two games, I felt we should have gone through. But look, we wish Cliftonville well, they defended very well tonight, got bodies behind the ball and made it difficult for us. And, although we got the two goals, it just wasn’t enough.
Anto Murphy was one of the ‘Saints’ main attacking threats on Tuesday night, delivering a series of dangerous long throws into the Cliftonville box but, as the second half progressed he was withdrawn, allowing youngster Jordan Keegan to gain some valuable game time.
“I felt we got a little bit tired to be honest and we decided to freshen it up, but then we seemed to get a bit of impetus back and we got going again. And at the end of it we were just camped in their half really. Look, as I said, that’s football. We have to try and move on from that now, put the disappointment behind us and get ready for Galway on Friday”.
With the opening league game of the season coming up this Friday night, Mahon has something of a dilemma in terms of suspensions and injuries.
“Yeah, we have three players suspended; Paul Crowley, Danny North and Stephen Bradley. But I’m hoping that Ian Daly, a player that we signed on Sunday, his international clearance will come through on time. We’re just waiting for the transfer system to work but everything is in place so, with a little bit of luck, he’ll be clear tomorrow and he’ll be able to play for us on Friday.
I’m hoping Daryl Kavanagh will be fit and I’m hoping Ian Bermingham will recover from the bug he had. So, we’ve a few little problems, but look, 24 hours might solve them for us.”
“We’d a bit of a mountain to climb after the first leg, you know. The game tonight was something similar (Pats had had the bulk of possession in both games) but at the same time I felt we had better chances tonight than we had up there. And we defended better tonight as well. So overall, over the two games, I felt we should have gone through. But look, we wish Cliftonville well, they defended very well tonight, got bodies behind the ball and made it difficult for us. And, although we got the two goals, it just wasn’t enough.
Anto Murphy was one of the ‘Saints’ main attacking threats on Tuesday night, delivering a series of dangerous long throws into the Cliftonville box but, as the second half progressed he was withdrawn, allowing youngster Jordan Keegan to gain some valuable game time.
“I felt we got a little bit tired to be honest and we decided to freshen it up, but then we seemed to get a bit of impetus back and we got going again. And at the end of it we were just camped in their half really. Look, as I said, that’s football. We have to try and move on from that now, put the disappointment behind us and get ready for Galway on Friday”.
With the opening league game of the season coming up this Friday night, Mahon has something of a dilemma in terms of suspensions and injuries.
“Yeah, we have three players suspended; Paul Crowley, Danny North and Stephen Bradley. But I’m hoping that Ian Daly, a player that we signed on Sunday, his international clearance will come through on time. We’re just waiting for the transfer system to work but everything is in place so, with a little bit of luck, he’ll be clear tomorrow and he’ll be able to play for us on Friday.
I’m hoping Daryl Kavanagh will be fit and I’m hoping Ian Bermingham will recover from the bug he had. So, we’ve a few little problems, but look, 24 hours might solve them for us.”
About Simon O'Gorman
Simon O'Gorman began reporting for Extratime in 2010. He remembers Milltown and Flower Lodge and, back in the mists of time, saw Diego Maradona play at Lansdowne Road. He now lives in Co Kildare and … View Full Profile