Henderson unhappy with Blues start
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A scoreless draw to begin their Airtricity First Division campaign was not the start Stephen Henderson was looking for. Two points dropped certainly disappointed the Blues boss while admitting there was very little positives to take from the game.
“It’s two points dropped against a team that got their two banks of four behind the ball and fair play to them because that’s how they’re going to go about their business. But we needed to be better to open them up and win the match but we weren’t.” said Stephen Henderson. "We kept a cleansheet but that wasn’t good enough from us and that was mainly because they stayed in their own half for the whole ninety minutes.”
Despite having the majority of the possession throughout the game, Henderson’s side failed to test Athlone Town keeper Michael Schlingermann too many times during the game.
“I thought that we were pedestrian tonight and we didn’t move the ball quickly enough. We didn’t play any one-twos anywhere near the edge of their box, we got crosses into the box and we didn’t have anyone in the box so there was a lot of negative stuff about this tonight. It’s two points dropped without a shadow. It’s a brand new midfield and we understand that. Obviously Willie John [Kiely] wasn’t playing tonight but young Gary Keane did well up front and around the sides.”
“We worked hard during the week and worked hard preseason but when we came up against Athlone tonight, they had their shape and discipline and we were predictable tonight. When you are predictable as team, you are easy to defend against.
“It’s a tough week every week and it will be no different for the game against Monaghan United next Friday night. It was just the pedestrian nature of the game that upset me tonight because we are a good club with some good players so there is a lot to work on especially going up to Monaghan.”
“Maybe we have this thing in our head about going up to Monaghan next week but we have to be right and defensively we have to be right. I’m sure we will be but tonight was about Athlone coming to the RSC and Waterford United taking the game to them in a high tempo and it didn’t happen.
Keith Quinn was an unexpected absentee from the game but is expected to be in line to make his league debut on Friday against Monaghan United.
“It’s two points dropped against a team that got their two banks of four behind the ball and fair play to them because that’s how they’re going to go about their business. But we needed to be better to open them up and win the match but we weren’t.” said Stephen Henderson. "We kept a cleansheet but that wasn’t good enough from us and that was mainly because they stayed in their own half for the whole ninety minutes.”
Despite having the majority of the possession throughout the game, Henderson’s side failed to test Athlone Town keeper Michael Schlingermann too many times during the game.
“I thought that we were pedestrian tonight and we didn’t move the ball quickly enough. We didn’t play any one-twos anywhere near the edge of their box, we got crosses into the box and we didn’t have anyone in the box so there was a lot of negative stuff about this tonight. It’s two points dropped without a shadow. It’s a brand new midfield and we understand that. Obviously Willie John [Kiely] wasn’t playing tonight but young Gary Keane did well up front and around the sides.”
“We worked hard during the week and worked hard preseason but when we came up against Athlone tonight, they had their shape and discipline and we were predictable tonight. When you are predictable as team, you are easy to defend against.
“It’s a tough week every week and it will be no different for the game against Monaghan United next Friday night. It was just the pedestrian nature of the game that upset me tonight because we are a good club with some good players so there is a lot to work on especially going up to Monaghan.”
“Maybe we have this thing in our head about going up to Monaghan next week but we have to be right and defensively we have to be right. I’m sure we will be but tonight was about Athlone coming to the RSC and Waterford United taking the game to them in a high tempo and it didn’t happen.
Keith Quinn was an unexpected absentee from the game but is expected to be in line to make his league debut on Friday against Monaghan United.
About Brendan White
Brendan White is Extratime News Editor and is responsible for the news section of Extratime.ie. Brendan also covers matches in Dublin and Waterford. You can contact Brendan on twitter @whitebrendan. View Full Profile