Management reflections on the Preston game.

Posted on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Mike says

“We were fortunate to win yesterday. Preston deserved at least a point and could have shaded what must have been an exciting game to watch for the neutrals. Both teams battled hard, showing the right spirit for 90 minutes in an end to end game of football.

For our part we got our noses in front with Deano’s free kick but didn’t hold on to our lead long enough to settle the team. A few minutes later we gave away yet another sloppy goal because we didn’t attack a keepers long kick and ended up giving away a free kick on our goal-line which we didn’t defend properly. I thought we had the better of the first half but admit the home team had the better of the second down the slope. We threw on Donal, Omar and Michael with 20 to go in an attempt to win the game and when Donal’s cross came into the box on 89 minutes and 30 seconds Omar just beat Michael to the ball to head home the winner which shows the depth of our squad. It was a sore one for Stevie and his boys but they are a good team and will be in the mix come next April.

The result puts us mid table with a game in hand on all the teams above us. Sam and I know there is still room for improvement but we were more than happy with the spirit shown by the boys yesterday. You don’t win leagues playing pretty football every week and you need the odd break along the way.

A special thanks to Kevin for replacing Chris in goal. He looked sharp when he was called into action and two saves at least showed what a great keeper he still is. Fatherhood hasn’t dulled his reflexes, that’s for sure.

We now look forward to the Uni on Tuesday and I’ll post my thoughts on that game tomorrow.”