Disappointed but not despondent was a fair description of Stephen O’Donnell’s mood following the 2-0 loss to Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds on Monday night.
After going down to 10 men when Darragh Leahy was shown a red card after 23 minutes, Dundalk battled on but they were undone in the second half by an unfortunate Andy Boyle own goal and a late effort from Frank Liivak.
The result saw the Lilywhites slip to third in the table but speaking to the media afterwards, O’Donnell said he took heart from his side’s display.
On Dundalk’s performance…
“The result is the only thing I’m disappointed with. I thought we took the initiative and were the better team for spells in the second half. When you go down to 10 men after 20 odd minutes it does limit you in terms of your attacking threat but from a togetherness standpoint and a workmate standpoint, I was delighted.”
On Darragh Leahy’s red card…
“I haven’t seen a replay but I know the ref wasn’t giving the sending-off. He was shaking his head and didn’t blow the whistle.”
Darragh Leahy is shown a red card by referee John McLoughlin during the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match with Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
On the Sligo goals…
“I haven’t seen them back but for the first one, we seemed to defend the first dangerous part of it well and then Aidan Keena managed to come out of a challenge with Sam Bone and John Mountney. It was a soft goal to give away. The second one, we had gone for the game at that stage and were trying to get a goal back and we were just suckered a little bit.”
On Dundalk’s character…
“Our attitude was brilliant. I told the lads not to be too despondent. I was actually more optimistic after the game than I was before the game after what I saw. It’s not easy going down to 10 men but everyone rowed in and dug in and really emptied the tank, especially after playing 120 minutes on Friday night. I can’t ask any more from the players in regards to their receptiveness and how hard they work. I said to them that there’s no way we should be flat or dependent. We’re obviously disappointed to lose the game but we lost the game in the right way, in terms of everyone grafting for each other after being down to 10 men.”
On bouncing back against Shelbourne on Friday…
“It was a disappointing night but we can’t dwell on it. It’s not a case of us going back on the bus and saying ‘where do we go from here?’. It was circumstantial tonight, we were down to 10 men.”
