Croly still confident of progressing

There was no fairy-tale start to Trevor Croly’s reign as Shamrock Rovers manager last Monday evening as he saw his new side beaten 1-0 by Coleraine in the first leg of their Setanta Cup clash.

A goal from David Scullion on the brink of half-time was enough to give the Danske Bank Premiership side a surprise win on the night and a slender advantage going into the second leg in The Showgrounds this coming Monday.

Despite the loss however, Croly wasn’t too despondent and was quick to point out that it was his side’s first competitive game in over three months.

“We were happy with aspects of it, but other aspects we’d have liked to have been a bit better. We’ve got to be realistic; it’s our first competitive game. We’ve had some friendlies before that and some training sessions, but we’re only back since the 8^th of January.” 

Throughout the game the Tallaght side controlled the ball and had the vast majority of possession. The central midfield partnership of James Chambers and Stephen Rice looked comfortable on the ball but couldn’t seem to find the killer pass that would open up the Coleraine defence.

The former assistant manager at St. Patrick’s Athletic said: “Taking everything into consideration I thought the guys did really well. They had a lot of possession in the first half. But we didn’t create as much as we would have liked.” 

He added: “In the second half we couldn’t have really done a lot more, we were quite unlucky. We hit the post three times. I think we did everything, bar score. So, happy in aspects but it’s always disappointing to lose a game like that.”

It will be a tough task for Rovers to overturn the one goal deficit in the second leg on Monday, but Croly feels that his players have what it takes.

“We’ve been up to see them (Coleraine). We’ve seen them three times. They’re a good side at home, an experienced side. Looking at Monday, we played quite well. We’ll be the better for the game on Monday. We’re always confident because we have a good group of players. We’re always confident we can win a game”.

The Setanta Cup has been running for eight years now and offers a good opportunity for players to play competitive games before the season starts. Croly is certainly aware of that and sees being in the competition as an advantage over other teams.

“It’s definitely an advantage. No matter how many friendlies you play you can’t replicate that meaningful kind of game that you really want to win. We’re disappointed that we didn’t win, but definitely disappointed that we didn’t get a draw the other night.”

He went on to express his desire to win the tournament. “It’s a great competition. We’re prepared to try and win it. The conundrum is whether you come back earlier in the year [to prepare for the competition], but then coming to the end of the season that can be to your detriment. The timing is not completely ideal but we’ll be the better for it.”