Trying to take a few positives from the game, I thought we didn’t get much luck.
I thought we just gave a soft goal away after we got back into the game and we had been well on top when we got the equaliser.
We had a few chances before they sc
ored their first two; Tim McCann had a good chance.
Jay Magee also had a free header in the second half and he should have scored. I thought we deserved something out of the game and we didn’t get it. Maybe that’s been the story of our season.
Tony Grant felt fine before the game. He got through a fairly strenuous warm-up and if he’d have been feeling anything we’d have pulled him out. Being quite honest, I think if Tony had stayed on for the ninety minutes, we would have won the game.
So, it was disappointing to lose him. We’re keen to get him and Davey together and Davey’s proved that he’s a goalscorer. He had two chances and both of them were on target.
Certainly, he did everything right with the header in the second half and on another day it would have went in.
We hadn’t planned for Davey to get ninety minutes and he’s not ready for it. When you look at the team, Niall Hudson’s been out and Jay Magee’s been out injured for three weeks. They’ve been thrown back in because we’ve had nobody else to go in there, no disrespect to anybody else.
We’re having to put in players who aren’t ready. Gary Liggett hasn’t had ninety minutes for weeks because he had the flu and was then in a car crash and had whiplash. Those are things that supporters don’t realise.
On Saturday, Gary was thrown in there after having missed training through illness and the car accident.
People might say, ‘Well, why are they on the bench? They’re on the bench because there’s nobody else.
If we had lost on Saturday with Gerard McMahon, Mark Turkington, Hugh Dickson, Tony Grant and Trevor Molloy in the team, then you’d start to ask questions and say that we’re struggling.
I’m a great believer of judging us when we’ve got a full squad available. One player we’re missing for his experience and creativity is Gerard McMahon.
It’s been tough for young guys like Gareth Scott and Ryan Blaney being thrown in there.
Gareth has good potential and is probably a player for the future but again he was thrown in not having had ninety minutes because he’s been on the bench. But maybe it’s time to take a chance and to throw him in.
The full article contains 481 words and appears in Lurgan Mail newspaper.