Gill lost for words following Bray defeat
Credit:
There are times in every manager’s career when facing the press after
a game must be about as appealing as having your toenails pulled out
with a pair of rusty pliers. On Friday night Pete Mahon was spared the experience after his side
threw away a two goal lead to lose 3-2 against Bray Wanderers. Mahon was absent on the night for personal reasons and so it was his assistant John Gill who found himself with the unenviable task.
In circumstances like that there is only one place to start and that is with the blindingly obvious. So it was that John found himself on the end of the suggestion from extratime that he must have found it all “desperately disappointing”. With admirable calm he refrained from pouring his tea over us and, instead, answered with the simple honesty for which he is known.
“I can’t really put it into words. We were in control of the game for an hour, we scored a goal in the first half and should have had, maybe one more, maybe a couple more. We got an early goal in the second half and were in control of the game. I made one change because I felt young Anto Murphy hadn’t had a lot of football in the last eight or nine months and then we lost concentration. I’m not going to single out individuals but we gave them a fairly sloppy first goal which gave them a bit of momentum. And, in fairness to them, they grabbed hold of that momentum and we kind of imploded.”
The damage had been done by young Bray striker Conor Murphy who had come on as a substitute in the 66th minute and, by the time ten minutes had passed, had scored twice to pull his side level at 2-2.
“We went and tried to get another goal”, said Gill, taking up the narrative once more, “and tried to get a third goal back. It should never have come to that, the game should have been seen out. We had experienced players on the pitch, intelligent players, we should have been able to see the game out. A couple of individuals just hung up their brains, as they say, and that’s what cost us. And it cost us dearly.”
It was clear that, for all his decorum, Gill was still fuming. And, while he held back from naming names, there was little doubt that he had clear ideas about where and how his team had come unstuck. He referred to a player who had “put his hand up” and who was “distraught”, but we were then quickly moving on to what must happen next.
“We played some good football in the first half so we’ll bounce back”, said Gill. “I think we showed glimpses tonight of what we’re about and what we’re trying to do. We’ll get back to work on Sunday morning, start working hard again and look forward to the Rovers game next week.”
Sentiments that, I’m sure, the majority of St Pats’ supporters would echo.
In circumstances like that there is only one place to start and that is with the blindingly obvious. So it was that John found himself on the end of the suggestion from extratime that he must have found it all “desperately disappointing”. With admirable calm he refrained from pouring his tea over us and, instead, answered with the simple honesty for which he is known.
“I can’t really put it into words. We were in control of the game for an hour, we scored a goal in the first half and should have had, maybe one more, maybe a couple more. We got an early goal in the second half and were in control of the game. I made one change because I felt young Anto Murphy hadn’t had a lot of football in the last eight or nine months and then we lost concentration. I’m not going to single out individuals but we gave them a fairly sloppy first goal which gave them a bit of momentum. And, in fairness to them, they grabbed hold of that momentum and we kind of imploded.”
The damage had been done by young Bray striker Conor Murphy who had come on as a substitute in the 66th minute and, by the time ten minutes had passed, had scored twice to pull his side level at 2-2.
“We went and tried to get another goal”, said Gill, taking up the narrative once more, “and tried to get a third goal back. It should never have come to that, the game should have been seen out. We had experienced players on the pitch, intelligent players, we should have been able to see the game out. A couple of individuals just hung up their brains, as they say, and that’s what cost us. And it cost us dearly.”
It was clear that, for all his decorum, Gill was still fuming. And, while he held back from naming names, there was little doubt that he had clear ideas about where and how his team had come unstuck. He referred to a player who had “put his hand up” and who was “distraught”, but we were then quickly moving on to what must happen next.
“We played some good football in the first half so we’ll bounce back”, said Gill. “I think we showed glimpses tonight of what we’re about and what we’re trying to do. We’ll get back to work on Sunday morning, start working hard again and look forward to the Rovers game next week.”
Sentiments that, I’m sure, the majority of St Pats’ supporters would echo.
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