Mathews: We deserved three points
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Shelbourne manager Alan Mathews felt that his side was unlucky not to take all three points from
their clash against Limerick on Friday night. Mathews was less than impressed with his
team's first half display but felt that the Reds were much improved after the interval.
“I thought we deserved the three points. It was a very good second half performance. We didn't play particularly well in the first half and we seemed to be a bit tentative. We got into a bit more rhythym, a bit more routine about our play in the second half.
“Brendan (Mc Gill), I think worked the goalkeeper 3 times. I felt that we would go on and get the goal," stated Mathews .
Speaking about the visitors equaliser from Paudie Quinn, the Shels boss clearly felt that fortune did not favour the home side: “It was bad luck, the ball bounced to a fella on the edge of the box, and he curls it in. Give him credit, he finished it well. Overall I'd be positive rather than disappointed about tonight’s performance.”
As a result of Cork and Monaghan's exciting 2-2 draw at Turners Cross, Shelbourne remain one point ahead of the Leesiders at the top of the First Division. However, Mathews is only concerned about his own team and feels that Shels’ second half performance offers plenty of encouragement for the rest of the season.
“We want to try and play as well as we can and win every week. There's a long way to go. There's a lot of good teams in the First Division. Limerick are certainly one of them. It was a difficult game. We knew it was going to be difficult tonight, but if we play as we did in the second half in particular, I think we'll be okay this season,” Mathews added.
The Reds boss also confirmed that star player Conan Byrne was replaced after 65 minutes because of injury. “Yeah, he got a bad tackle. He couldn't really run it off so he had to come off. He was stuggling a little bit prior to that and he got a knock on his knee. It seemed to stiffen up a little bit for him, so we took him off.”
Despite the fact that Shelbourne could not kill off the Limerick challenge after Philip Hughes' brillant opener, Mathews was full of praise for his players for their efforts so far this year. “I wouldn't be critical of the players. They've been excellent since the start of the season. They were lucky enough to get the equaliser in the last couple of minutes. We're disappointed to have conceded the goal. You have to give credit to the opponent, but lots of the stuff from the 2nd half was positive. We'll get results along the way. We'll keep playing the way we're playing. There's still a lot of work to do mind you. We've a long way to go” said the Shelbourne manager.
“I thought we deserved the three points. It was a very good second half performance. We didn't play particularly well in the first half and we seemed to be a bit tentative. We got into a bit more rhythym, a bit more routine about our play in the second half.
“Brendan (Mc Gill), I think worked the goalkeeper 3 times. I felt that we would go on and get the goal," stated Mathews .
Speaking about the visitors equaliser from Paudie Quinn, the Shels boss clearly felt that fortune did not favour the home side: “It was bad luck, the ball bounced to a fella on the edge of the box, and he curls it in. Give him credit, he finished it well. Overall I'd be positive rather than disappointed about tonight’s performance.”
As a result of Cork and Monaghan's exciting 2-2 draw at Turners Cross, Shelbourne remain one point ahead of the Leesiders at the top of the First Division. However, Mathews is only concerned about his own team and feels that Shels’ second half performance offers plenty of encouragement for the rest of the season.
“We want to try and play as well as we can and win every week. There's a long way to go. There's a lot of good teams in the First Division. Limerick are certainly one of them. It was a difficult game. We knew it was going to be difficult tonight, but if we play as we did in the second half in particular, I think we'll be okay this season,” Mathews added.
The Reds boss also confirmed that star player Conan Byrne was replaced after 65 minutes because of injury. “Yeah, he got a bad tackle. He couldn't really run it off so he had to come off. He was stuggling a little bit prior to that and he got a knock on his knee. It seemed to stiffen up a little bit for him, so we took him off.”
Despite the fact that Shelbourne could not kill off the Limerick challenge after Philip Hughes' brillant opener, Mathews was full of praise for his players for their efforts so far this year. “I wouldn't be critical of the players. They've been excellent since the start of the season. They were lucky enough to get the equaliser in the last couple of minutes. We're disappointed to have conceded the goal. You have to give credit to the opponent, but lots of the stuff from the 2nd half was positive. We'll get results along the way. We'll keep playing the way we're playing. There's still a lot of work to do mind you. We've a long way to go” said the Shelbourne manager.
