DUNDALK BOSS STEPHEN Kenny lamented the “criminal” goals they conceded in Thursday night’s Europa League defeat to Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Mistakes by Brian Gartland and goalkeeper Gary Rogers gifted the home side in a 2-1 defeat at the Netanya Stadium with the Lilywhites finishing bottom of Group D while AZ Alkmaar took the second qualification spot with victory over winners Zenit St Petersburg.
Kenny accepts his team were second best on the night but feels they did enough to draw the game as David McMillan and Ciaran Kilduff both had chances in the closing minutes.
“The goals that we conceded are very disappointing,” he told eir Sport. “We started the game well but it’s a really poor goal to concede from our point of view.
“But the players responded brilliantly. We kept the ball well, kept our composure and scored a well-worked goal.
“At 1-1 when the crowd were getting onto them, they were a bit vunerable. We committed and conceded another goal that we could’ve prevented.
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“We were under pressure but we always find a way to come back, that resilience to keep fighting. We had two good chances at the end. In fact, Daryl Horgan is taken down but stayed on his feet.
He’s never won a penalty for us even though he’s the best dribbler in the league.
“We had two good chances with David McMillan and Ciaran Kilduff at the end. Okay, Maccabi would’ve felt hard done by because they dominated the second half but our players showed the ability to keep going until the end.
“We can take some confidence from that but I would be very disappointed from the goals we’ve given away — criminal, really.”
Kilduff heads wide at the death. Ariel Schalit
Ariel Schalit
Despite being beaten in four of their six group matches — drawing one and winning the other –Dundalk were highly-competitive throughout against season European campaigners and only ever lost by the odd goal.
It has been a magnificant run on their maiden voyage in the competition’s group stages but Kenny feels they must use the experience to develop into a better side by the time the Champions League qualifiers come around in July.
“Overall we need to improve and we definitely know that,” he added. “Maccabi were a different team tonight than they were in Tallaght,where we outplayed them for periods and deserved our win.
“But they deserved to win tonight. We played Zenit St Petersburg who won their Champions League group last year, and Maccabi, who were in the Champions League group stages last year, and there was never more than a goal in any of the games.
“We’ve drawn with AZ, beat Maccabi, the two Zenit games were both 2-1 and it was the same tonight. So they’re narrow defeats, a draw and the victory.
“But we have to look to try and get better and strive to improve. A lot of the players will have gained valuable experience with 12 European games this year, which is fantastic.
The players have been phenomenal — to combine the European run with winning the league. We’ve come a long way but there is widespread disappointment.
“We had high hopes coming into tonight. We wanted to do better than we did but I can’t fault the players as they have given absolutely everything.
“Maybe we expect too much sometimes but we asked the players to raise their standards and expect more of themselves, which they have done. But we still have to do more.”
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Kenny: We gave away criminal goals and will need to improve for next year
DUNDALK BOSS STEPHEN Kenny lamented the “criminal” goals they conceded in Thursday night’s Europa League defeat to Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Mistakes by Brian Gartland and goalkeeper Gary Rogers gifted the home side in a 2-1 defeat at the Netanya Stadium with the Lilywhites finishing bottom of Group D while AZ Alkmaar took the second qualification spot with victory over winners Zenit St Petersburg.
Kenny accepts his team were second best on the night but feels they did enough to draw the game as David McMillan and Ciaran Kilduff both had chances in the closing minutes.
“The goals that we conceded are very disappointing,” he told eir Sport. “We started the game well but it’s a really poor goal to concede from our point of view.
“But the players responded brilliantly. We kept the ball well, kept our composure and scored a well-worked goal.
“At 1-1 when the crowd were getting onto them, they were a bit vunerable. We committed and conceded another goal that we could’ve prevented.
“We were under pressure but we always find a way to come back, that resilience to keep fighting. We had two good chances at the end. In fact, Daryl Horgan is taken down but stayed on his feet.
“We had two good chances with David McMillan and Ciaran Kilduff at the end. Okay, Maccabi would’ve felt hard done by because they dominated the second half but our players showed the ability to keep going until the end.
“We can take some confidence from that but I would be very disappointed from the goals we’ve given away — criminal, really.”
Despite being beaten in four of their six group matches — drawing one and winning the other –Dundalk were highly-competitive throughout against season European campaigners and only ever lost by the odd goal.
It has been a magnificant run on their maiden voyage in the competition’s group stages but Kenny feels they must use the experience to develop into a better side by the time the Champions League qualifiers come around in July.
“Overall we need to improve and we definitely know that,” he added. “Maccabi were a different team tonight than they were in Tallaght,where we outplayed them for periods and deserved our win.
“But they deserved to win tonight. We played Zenit St Petersburg who won their Champions League group last year, and Maccabi, who were in the Champions League group stages last year, and there was never more than a goal in any of the games.
“We’ve drawn with AZ, beat Maccabi, the two Zenit games were both 2-1 and it was the same tonight. So they’re narrow defeats, a draw and the victory.
“But we have to look to try and get better and strive to improve. A lot of the players will have gained valuable experience with 12 European games this year, which is fantastic.
“We had high hopes coming into tonight. We wanted to do better than we did but I can’t fault the players as they have given absolutely everything.
“Maybe we expect too much sometimes but we asked the players to raise their standards and expect more of themselves, which they have done. But we still have to do more.”
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UEFA Europa League Lilywhites perfectionist Stephen Kenny Dundalk Maccabi Tel Aviv