Mathews sees positives in away draw

Shelbourne manager Alan Mathews was happy with his side's performance against Dundalk on Friday night but he was frustrated that they missed so many chances. Speaking to extratime.ie, the Shels boss felt his side had done enough to take all three points.

"We done well in many aspects of the game, other aspects we need to improve. We're not happy, we're disappointed that we haven't come away with three points. I think we had enough possession throughout the game and we created enough chances. We probably didn't work the goalkeeper enough but we had chances."

Mathews did however feel it was a sign that his side were progressing and moving in the right direction.

"It shows we are progressing, we have come away from home and we've kept a clean sheet, we are disappointed we haven't won the game. We aren't disappointed with how we played. We had good possession of the football, we just didn't convert the chances we created for ourselves. On another night maybe we would have taken those opportunities.

We looked like the home team. That is a fair reflection on our own performance. A different game we may have scored and it's a totally different game but we didn't."
 

The Dubliner acknowledged the part Dundalk played in the game and knows that they had chances themselves.

"We have to give credit to our opponents. They kept plugging away and made it difficult for us. They had a few good chances and Paul Skinner made some good blocks to keep them out.
 

We were going to give up chances by the way we play, and you expect your back four and your goalkeeper to step up to the plate and be strong. They did that brilliantly."
 

Although Mathews is slightly disappointed with not claiming the victory, he feels it is a good point and is ready for the challenges that lie ahead.
 

"Tonight was a new challenge. We got a point away from home, a good point. We've a lot of work to do, it's a very difficult league, week in, week out. There's different challenges, tonight was a different challenge from the one we faced last week and different to the one we face next week. We will keep learning and trying to improve."
 

The draw in Oriel Park was Shelbourne's ninth point of the season. Mathews feels is a solid total but is looking to build on that quickly.

"We are looking to win as many matches as we can. We will be approaching each game in the right manner. We are looking to play the right brand of football and see where it takes us. That is the sixth game and our ninth point. It's a solid enough start.
 

Disappointed that we haven't got more but it is what we have. It's up to us now to pick up more points as quickly as we can starting next week."