Match Reaction

Kearney: ‘There wasn’t a huge amount in the game’

COLERAINE boss Oran Kearney was left understandably disappointed with yesterday’s late defeat at Solitude…

Despite creating numerous opportunities throughout the 90 minutes in North Belfast, the Bannsiders would leave empty handed as Conor McMenamin headed in at the back post to seal a late win for the hosts.

Kearney insists there wasn’t much in the game and believed that his troops were looking like sealing a point, before McMenamin’s winner.

“We’re obviously disappointed with the outcome. We had a great chance after a minute where we should score and go ahead,” he said.

“Probably up until the 85th minute when they score I think as far as an away performance goes we’ve probably edged it in terms of chances.

“I think both teams cancelled each other out and there wasn’t a huge amount in the game.

“I thought particularly with the chances we had over the course of the game it looked like it would probably end in a draw that you maybe thought on another day we could have taken the three points out of.

“We had a chance througth Jamie Glackin’s, we had Ian Parkhill’s one that hits the crossbar, Josh Carson had one from a corner from a couple of yards out so they are the three big gilt-edged ones for us.

“At that point in time the game is 0-0 so you want one of those to go in because it gives you a real foothold and a real opportunity to kick on.

“I believe it wasn’t even a corner that leads to their goal and there have been three or four people that have said to me that the ball just rolled out of play.

“At the end of the day we have to defend it and we don’t defend it and it was just a really disappointing outcome.

“Conceding at any time is a sucker punch.  With the manner of the game and how we managed a difficult away fixture by creating chances and keeping it solid at the back then to concede in that manner so late in the game was disappointing.

The boss confirmed that midfielder Aaron Jarvis will be out for around three months following a knee injury, but believes this will provide an opportunity for someone else to ‘step up to the plate’.

“I think we have had a real good start to the season which has been well talked about and I know at this point in time we are the walking wounded,” Kearney continued.

“We have probably three or four players today to their credit who have played who are probably touch and go.

“I can ask no more of the players at this point in time because they are giving me everything and they are sacrificing a huge amount for the club.

“It is the small things over the last couple of weeks. We had an inspired goalkeeper last week (against Larne), the second half performance against Glentoran we did enough to win the game and today overall we’ve edged it but come away with nothing.

“You get moments like that in football. You get little runs like that in football and it is important now that we go and put it all right on Boxing Day.

“It is a big blow losing Aaron. Last week the injury he has picked up you’re looking at least three months at this point in time for him.

“As I say, the side that has been so settled of late has got a little bit disrupted but it gives opportunities to other players to come in and step up to the plate.”

There was a late melee between management staff and players of both clubs, but Kearney insists it was just simply ‘handbags at dawn’ as no players were cautioned following the incident, before previewing the Boxing Day fixture against Ballymena United.

“As a player and as a manager over the years I have lots of big memories from big Boxing Day matches.

“This one is well setup for another classic and it is important now that we dust ourselves down.

“We’re not going to walk about with the lip out it is important now that we kick on and get ready for Boxing Day.

“It was handbags at dawn for me. I think the most important factor out of it all is that the referee stood and watched it all without producing one yellow or red card which he is more than entitled to do so I think that says it all.”