Murphy ‘utterly disapponted’ by Cobh’s premature cup exit
SOCCER
Daire Walsh
COBH Ramblers manager Darren Murphy cut a frustrated figure following his side’s FAI Cup second round exit at the expense of Maynooth University Town last Saturday.
Despite Conor Drinan and Jason Abbott finding the net over the course of the action, the Leinster Senior League outfit advanced to the quarter-finals on a 3-2 final scoreline.
Although the game ebbed and flowed, with Ramblers twice forcing themselves back on level terms, Murphy’s charges could have few complains about the eventual result.
“Really disappointed obviously,” was Murphy’s reaction. :That’s a tough one to take for us.
“As a club as a whole, you’d be expecting League of Ireland teams to progress in the cup and we are utterly disappointed with that result tonight.
“We started slow, they started quick. Obviously we expected that they were going to put everything into the game. They closed and pressed, and they got a goal out of it. We obviously reacted well,” he said.
“I thought we got control of the game and came back to 1-1. The second half, it’s a difficult one. You go 2-1 down, out of nowhere really. Pull it back then again and then to go 3-2 down was, as I said, disappointing.”
Murphy will seek an immediate response from this set-back when his troops travel to Limerick on Friday evening for a First Division showdown with Treaty United (7.45pm).
Many of Cobh’s recent league performances, not least a 2-2 draw against divisional pace-setters Shelbourne on July 30, suggests there is quality within their ranks, and that’s what made last weekend’s reversal all the more difficult for Murphy to take.
“It is the frustrating thing at the moment because we know the talent that’s in the side and the ability that they’ve got,” he said. “Again, when you’re down the bottom of the league, results aren’t going your way and decisions aren’t going your way, it’s tough. It’s hard then for players to come out of their shells and really be themselves.
“We saw glimpses of it there tonight when we did get that ball down and play, open up in wide areas and get shots off; get crosses into the box and get on second balls. It is there, but it’s just trying to put it all together. Sending-offs and injuries haven’t helped the last couple of weeks either,” he added.
“We just have to deal with that as a side and be professional. You’re going to have bad days, you’re going to have good days. This is about reaction as a player and as a manager or a coach.”