Hawkins - Draw was a fair result

Shamrock Rovers began their 2013 Airtricity League campaign with a 0-0 draw away to Dundalk. Gary McCabe missed a penalty for the Hoops in what was the best opportunity to break the deadlock with just over 20 minutes to go and speaking to Extratime.ie, Shamrock Rovers assistant manager Colin Hawkins was full of praise for the home side.

“It was a tough game for sure. Dundalk really put it up to us and they were certainly the better team in the first half. We were fortunate in a sense to go in at the break scoreless.

“They set out their stall early on and played in the diamond, we knew they’d do that and they played very well and made it difficult for us.”

The 35 year-old went onto speak about his own side and felt they improved significantly in the second half.

“From our own point of view, we didn’t play with the intensity that we know we can in the first half. It was very difficult as well with the wind and it was in our favour in the second half. We had all the chances and we played a lot more like we can. “

The major talking point was the controversial penalty award to Rovers and even though photographic evidence shows Dane Massey’s foul on Billy Dennehy was outside the box, the 4-time league winner, believed the referee made the right call but conceded a draw was the right result.

“The penalty, for me, was a definite. Gary McCabe is a little unlucky he slipped as he took it but it is a good save from Peter(Cherrie). We could have got away with a 1-0 win but we didn’t deserve that, a draw is a fair result.”

Now Shamrock Rovers move onto the Setanta Cup again on Monday and the former Dundalk centre-back admits that the trophy is one they want to win and stressed the importance of a point along with a clean sheet at Oriel Park.

"Setanta Cup is a massively important tournament to us. We have a good lead going to Belfast on Monday but we can’t take anything for granted. We want to win the game and the competition. It’s important that we keep our players fresh and rotate with the hectic schedule we have at the minute.

"We have a lot to build on. Every game is as important as each other and it was important to get a point to start off with and get a clean sheet too. Peter will be delighted to get that for Dundalk and Barry Murphy for us and now we can look forward and build towards St. Pat’s next week."