Russell - Sending off had an impact
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UCD manager Martin Russell felt that his side matched Shamrock Rovers for the first half an hour of their 6-1 defeat against the champions at Belfield on Friday night.
“Yeah we were very much in it for the first half an hour. Then the first goal came from a set play. Credit to them but we haven't dealt with the set play.”
Russell also believes that Michael Leahy's 43rd minute sending off, for a foul on Billy Dennehy, had an impact on the game. “The sending off had an impact on the game. It was going to be difficult with 11 anyway. Possibly on another day it mightn't have been a red. The referee might have judged that his touch (Dennehy's) was going away from goal.”
UCD had one major opportunity in the second half to pull a goal back. However Stephen Doyle went for goal instead of squaring the ball to the unmarked Graham Rusk. The UCD boss believes that Doyle should have set up his strike partner “Yeah Stephen probably wanted to go and try and score. He'll be disappointed that he hasn't hit the target. So in hindsight I think he will realise that a square ball was the option. It was at 3-0 down but we would have still liked a goal there.”
Russell did take some positives from the game but he is also realistic about possible future signings and new players “I think Sean Harding played very well for us tonight. Paul Corry and Paul O'Conor worked very hard in midfield. David O'Connor in his first season in the Premier League has done well again today. We are looking at giving out scholarships to young Irish players who want the chance to come and play. We don't have the option at the moment to go and pay senior players. We'll make changes and keep trying to improve if we can” revealed the UCD manager.
“Yeah we were very much in it for the first half an hour. Then the first goal came from a set play. Credit to them but we haven't dealt with the set play.”
Russell also believes that Michael Leahy's 43rd minute sending off, for a foul on Billy Dennehy, had an impact on the game. “The sending off had an impact on the game. It was going to be difficult with 11 anyway. Possibly on another day it mightn't have been a red. The referee might have judged that his touch (Dennehy's) was going away from goal.”
UCD had one major opportunity in the second half to pull a goal back. However Stephen Doyle went for goal instead of squaring the ball to the unmarked Graham Rusk. The UCD boss believes that Doyle should have set up his strike partner “Yeah Stephen probably wanted to go and try and score. He'll be disappointed that he hasn't hit the target. So in hindsight I think he will realise that a square ball was the option. It was at 3-0 down but we would have still liked a goal there.”
Russell did take some positives from the game but he is also realistic about possible future signings and new players “I think Sean Harding played very well for us tonight. Paul Corry and Paul O'Conor worked very hard in midfield. David O'Connor in his first season in the Premier League has done well again today. We are looking at giving out scholarships to young Irish players who want the chance to come and play. We don't have the option at the moment to go and pay senior players. We'll make changes and keep trying to improve if we can” revealed the UCD manager.
