McAree: ‘I thought our supporters were terrific’

COLERAINE manager Rodney McAree praised his side’s character as they clinched a spot in the semi-final of the Tennent’s Irish Cup on Friday night…

The Bannsiders had trailed 2-0 and 3-2 at Inver Park but goals from Eoin Bradley (2) and Jamie McGonigle sent the pulsating cup tie into extra-time. The visitors would take the lead for the first time in the game as Ben Tilney scored an own goal, before McGonigle wrapped the game up late on with a superb individual effort.

Speaking to colerainefc.com, boss McAree believes ‘pure desire’ by his players saw them through to the semi-final.

“On a whole it is tremendous because of the way we stayed in the game. We showed character to respond. We weren’t good enough in the first half but Larne were very good,” he said.

“We maybe contributed to that by sitting a wee bit deep and giving them spaces to work in and they took advantage of that.

“So at half-time we asked players to play higher up the pitch. We told Bradley to play higher as well.

“And we had to be a wee bit braver and the boys responded to it and we got a goal and Larne sat a wee bit deeper.

“We kept going and going and I didn’t want to see extra-time but to respond again at 3-2 down was tremendous.

“It was the sort of game you thought there would be chances. We could have been out of the Cup but the boys have character and they worked very hard to get back in the game.

“The players were terrific and they deserve all the plaudits. It wasn’t free flowing football that won the game. It was pure desire.”

McAree revealed that pride was at stake in the second-half as Coleraine didn’t want to put in another poor performance live on television.

“The second half there were massive performances such as Eoin Bradley,” he added.

“And I thought Jamie McGonigle was excellent when he came on.

“He got a bit of a kick in the teeth when he didn’t start but he was fantastic. His two goals were very good and his second one was a great finish.

“They don’t want to give up the Cup. The boys in the dressing room at half time were hurting. Their pride had taken a bit of a dent as well. It’s live on television with people all over the world watching it.

“We have been poor on the television this year so they maybe thought – here we go again – but they showed great character and courage.

“And they did not want to let go of the Cup. There is a long way to go before we can start thinking about finals and all that.

“It is just nice to be in the hat for the next round.”

McAree was quick to thank the Coleraine support for their ‘special atmosphere’ throughout the game.

“Our supporters were tremendous,” he concluded.

“When I came to Coleraine I wanted to be in the big games and you want to be involved in front of the big atmospheres and crowds.

“I thought our supporters were terrific and they showed their class at the end and the atmosphere was special.”