Callaghan praises 2nd half display despite defeat

Bohemians fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of league leaders Sligo Rovers on Monday night, and manager Aaron Callaghan was thrilled with his side’s second-half performance but felt his side “contributed to our own downfall”.

The Gypsies conceded three in the first-half but pulled one back in the 93^rd minute, leaving it too late for a comeback.

“I’m disappointed with the result. Conditions didn’t help. I’ve been asking the lads to try and play it out from the back position and attack. We got caught in the first one with one of the lads giving it away”, he told extratime.ie.

He continued: “The second goal changed it, I think, with the mistake from the young ‘keeper who we had to change just literally before the game. We went out in the second-half, and I told them to be positive. I thought we were fantastic in the second-half and really put it up to Sligo and got our just rewards with the goal we scored.”

Conditions were difficult as it poured rain for the duration of the game, resulting in a slippy pitch.

“They (Sligo) finished the first-half strongly. The conditions were very tough, they had the bit of wind that was out there but obviously the rain was going in against them. We contributed hugely to the goals that they got.”

The visitors were stronger in the second-half and Derek Pender went close a number of times before he netted in the dying seconds. The former Longford manager said that Sligo’s strong start to the game made it difficult for his side.

“He (Pender) missed a couple of shots earlier in the game. Goals change games. The fantastic start that Sligo had when we gifted them two goals put them on the front foot, the momentum was with them, there’s no doubt about it.

Callaghan has been faced with a number of injury problems this season but was full of praise for his young squad.

“We’ve had a couple of suspensions tonight, like Kevin Feely our centre-half missed out tonight with suspension. To be fair, I’ve got a good squad and I have a lot of players. We’re still building for next season.

“This is the first season for a lot of these guys at this level. Young John O’Connor came in and was fantastic tonight, young Kevin Devaney, who once played with Sligo, came on and I thought he was fantastic. A lot of these lads have never played at this level before with the intensity but I’m so proud of their second-half performance.”

The Dublin side are still in the FAI Cup and will face Dundalk in the quarter-final with Callaghan aiming to win the cup.

“We have to try and win something. We’re still in the FAI Cup, we’ve got that to aim for. We’re trying to finish up as high (in the league) as we can but at the same time we’re trying to develop young kids. It’s difficult to do, we don’t have the same strike force that Sligo have.

"We brought in three young strikers, if you like, in the window to try and change the ‘goals for’ column that we have. To be fair, that’s the first time we’ve taken a pasting, we didn’t take a pasting in the second-half though. Good luck to them, good luck to Sligo in the run-in.”