O’Connor rues set-piece lapses in heavy Villa defeat

Harry Shorthose It was a tough night in workLAB Connors Park last Tuesday night as CK United succumbed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Waterford side Villa FC. While the scoreline perhaps failed to reflect CK’s performance on the night, manager Tom O’Connor, returning to the dugout and media duties following a three-match ban, was in no mood to take consolation from that. For O’Connor, regardless of how well his side played, the bottom line was that CK had left empty-handed.

“It’s three points dropped, regardless of what the performance suggests. We played well and created a lot of chances, but if you don’t take your chances and you let them take theirs, it’s always going to be that way.” The most disappointing aspect for O’Connor was the manner in which three of Villa’s goals came from set-pieces, with CK punished from two corners and a free kick. It added to their frustration in that department, having also conceded their only goal against Killarney the previous weekend from a free kick.

“We’re more disappointed with the set-pieces. From memory, I’m fairly sure we conceded three from set-pieces and one was an error from the edge of the box,” O’Connor explained.

“Listen, people can switch off and I think unfortunately that’s what happened. At crucial moments you need to be switched on, and set-pieces are crucial parts of the game,” said the frustrated manager.

CK came into the game with just three days break from their clash with Killarney. The game was originally scheduled for Halloween night but was brought forward due to Villa players playing for the Munster regional side. In contrast Villa went into the game on the back of ten days' rest having not played the previous weekend. O’Connor admits that it may have played a part in the heavy defeat but refused to use it as an excuse.

“Before the game even kicked off, we all knew it was going to be difficult for us. It’s not even just the travel, it’s lads trying to get off work and trying to arrange babysitters. It does throw curveballs in. Obviously, it’s an amateur league and not having any real preparation for this game was difficult, especially in such a short season.

“I don’t believe it should have been expected of us, but it’s not an excuse. It’s been difficult to try and get the lads in and get them up to speed.

“Usually Monday and Tuesday would be a lighter session. If the game was on Thursday, I think it would have suited us better, but it wasn’t.

“Again, it’s not an excuse but f you ask me are they tired, I’d imagine they are.” O’Connor believes CK were the better side for the first 45 minutes, hitting the bar twice and creating strong opportunities, despite going in 1-0 down.

“I think for the first 45 minutes we were the only team on the pitch, even though we went in 1-0 down. We dominated the play and did exactly what I would have liked.

“In the second half, I thought we just went out of it. They put a lot of players up front, kicked the ball up to them and got their just rewards.

“There’s more than one way to play the game,” O’Connor admitted.

There was an element of controversy to the opening goal, with the linesman putting his flag up in the build up to the corner from which Villa scored, which O’Connor said was difficult for the players to deal with.

““It’s even more difficult when the linesman has his flag up for offside. Our defence stop, they play on, get a corner and score from it.

“That’s hard to take when you’re going in at half-time, the players are asking questions and the referee apologises. The team were a bit deflated by that, but that’s football.” The defeat leaves top spot and automatic qualification to the semi-finals out of reach. The best CK can hope for now is that they amass enough points to be the best second placed side. That means that they have to win their last two games away to Newbridge and at home to UCC and hope for the best. O’Connor admitted that there is no leeway now.

“That was always our aim, to try and win every game anyway. There’s no leeway now, but if there’s anything I know about this group, it’s that they can do it, so I’m not worried about that.

“We just have to set a few things right and, fortunately, we have plenty of time until the Newbridge game to do that. The lads will be fine and we’ll see what happens in the next game.” “It’s football. You’re not going to win every game, so no one’s downbeat. It’s one loss.

“We’re going to have losses throughout this campaign and throughout next year’s campaign. It’s part of football.”