O’Connor disappointed to not qualify but looks ahead to first full season

CK United manager Tom O’Connor remained upbeat despite the disappointment of a defeat that all but ended their inaugural National League campaign, insisting his side had believed they could go beyond the semi-finals and win the competition.

“On many fronts, it's a tough one,” he admitted. “But listen, that’s just football sometimes. I’ve said it throughout the campaign that we will have ups and downs, and today’s a down.

“We wanted to qualify for the semi-finals, and we felt that we could go on and win it, being honest. But sometimes it’s not meant to be.” He added that the mood in the dressing room remained upbeat despite the tough result.

““It’s actually really good. It’s important that we keep them in high spirits. Obviously, they are a group of winners and they wanted to get out of this for themselves.

“But I think the realisation sets in that we were a bit naïve at times in some of our plays, a bit naïve in some of the decisions we made. Being realistic, that’s to be expected for a new group.

“So the mood is all right. I keep saying it: they’re a remarkable group. I’ve really taken to them and they’re strong in character. There are already jokes going around, so it’s okay.” O’Connor admitted it’s been a great campaign and whilst they’re disappointed it’s over, there’s plenty of positives and plenty of learnings that they can take from it, as they plan towards the full season next season.

“Listen, the club as a whole has been brilliant. The lads on the pitch are mirroring what’s happening off the pitch, and I think it’s just going to get better and better.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be as it was, but once you get in and you’re working and Peter [Harvey] and Fran [Egan], they’re remarkable people. They have big ambitions for the club, just as much as we do as a coaching staff.

“Once you add all that together and put in a really good, driven bunch of players — I didn’t know them from Adam, but as we grew, I’m disappointed for them because I really feel that they put in a lot to get something back.

“But as I’ve been saying, this truncated season was never going to be the be-all and end-all. It’s next season where you’ve got to do it over a longer course of time. Losing a game isn’t the end of the world in a long season.

“So there are lots of learnings. I’m really, really happy with the campaign, but definitely, it’s not great that it’s finished.” Once again CK took an early lead before once again conceding straight away after, conceding once again from a set-piece which has been the story of their season.

“Would you believe, I don’t usually concede from set-pieces. We had an opportunity to clear it. We’re literally straight after the game, and I had a quick look back on the VEO at half-time, but it looks like someone tried to clear it, it hit someone’s back, and then it just dropped to someone and they put it away,” O’Connor explained frustratingly.

“But certainly, we need to be dealing with that first ball. Talking to the players, it’s difficult with the wind and the rain. They were testing conditions.

“So I don’t think any team, even though UCC have come away with the win, would have enjoyed the game.” He bemoaned the tricky conditions in the second half, saying that they made life difficult for them.

“We’ll look at that second half in isolation, and I don’t think there’s anything you can really do. It was just so chaotic. The wind just took control.

“We played here in the first game of the season, and the weather changed while we were in the dressing room, but it didn’t change so drastically.

“I think we basically had 20 players in their half of the pitch for probably 40 minutes. It was very, very difficult to get any sort of ball, any sort of quality. Throw-ins were blowing back.” However, he knows ultimately they could have won if they were more clinical in the first half.

“I think, being realistic, we’ll rue the chances we missed early on in the first half. We put them away, we stop the goals going in in the first half and the corner, I think we win that game easily.

“In the second half, if we have that wind, I’d imagine we’re probably a little bit calmer and we pass the ball around at the back because we’re winning and we’re not looking to go in.

“But when you’re two goals down and you’re doing that, it’s always going to be difficult.” Center-back Mamadou Doumbia won the CK Player of the Match award for his defensive efforts as he put in a mammoth shift at the back, being a rock despite a tough day at the office for the CK backline. He admitted that the players were disappointed but that the conditions made things hard for them.

““Definitely disappointed with how it went. I think you can’t fault us for the effort. We really tried, especially in the second half, but the wind also played a major part, so it was tough to play football.

“It was more of a scrap, and unfortunately we conceded at the wrong times. It was just really tough.

“Like I said, the wind was the crazy factor. Every long ball, if it was going to the right side, would blow back over to the left side.” However, whilst he said they’re disappointed with the result, it’s been a great campaign for them.

“If you look at it overall, not just today, I think for the short time that we're together, I think we did a pretty good job, but just disappointed with how today was.”