THE DISAPPOINTMENT WAS clear in Stephen Kenny’s demeanour after the Dundalk manager saw his side lose the FAI Cup final against Cork to a dramatic last-minute extra-time goal.
Kenny had only just returned to Ireland after seeing his side narrowly lose another intense encounter away to Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday.
“To lose it in the last minute of extra-time, we’re very disappointed with that. That would be the overriding feeling alright,” Kenny said in his post-match press conference.
“We had some decent chances in the first half. I felt bar a spell in the second half, where Sean Gannon headed one off the line and Gary (Rogers) made a few good saves, that little spell when Cork were on top, I thought the rest of it we largely controlled.
“We certainly looked the more likely to win it in extra-time. It was such a gruelling trip, playing Thursday night, it was just a monumental effort really by the players.
They pushed themselves to the absolute limits physically. But that’s the way it goes, you have to take the good with the bad. Cork are a good team and don’t concede many goals and they obviously have an attacking threat.”
The quick turnaround between games left Dundalk with little time to get ready for Sunday’s match at the Aviva Stadium, but Kenny wasn’t making excuses.
We recovered on Friday in Russia and flew back from Russia. Obviously our recovery strategies are that we use the pools and so forth. We did all of that and trained, but it’s reserves of energy and it’s gruelling really.
“It’s a gruelling effort but that’s the nature of it. I didn’t come here to sit down and complain about that. That’s just the way it fell.
We’ve lost a final that I thought we probably didn’t deserve to lose, but we have to accept that.”
Dundalk have at least two more Europa League games to look forward to starting with AZ’s trip to Tallaght Stadium on Thursday week.
It will be a strange feeling playing so sporadically for the next few weeks, particularly when a hectic end-of-season schedule saw the Lilywhites faced with 10 games in 27 days during one especially exhausting period.
That said, Kenny has suggested he could look into the possibility of arranging friendly games, possibly against yet-to-be-determined English or Scandinavian sides, to keep his players fit for the Europa League campaign. However, the 45-year-old coach is keen to stress that nothing has been finalised for now.
We have to make sure we keep a level of intensity up for the games,” he said. “Obviously Thursday fortnight against AZ Alkmaar is a big game. We can go a long way towards qualifying if we win that game.
“It’s easier said than done. They were Eredivisie champions (in 2009) and they got to the quarter-final of (the 2007, 2012 and 2014 Europa League/Uefa Cup), so they’re obviously a good team. We’re going to have to put in an incredible performance in a few weeks’ time to try to get through.”
Ahead of that match, Kenny has a number of injury problems to contend with — Robbie Benson missed Sunday’s game through injury, while Stephen O’Donnell, Dane Massey and Chris Shields all picked up knocks during the cup final, and the extent of their injuries is yet to be ascertained.
Nevertheless, in spite of all these problems and the heartbreaking nature of the loss, Kenny was remaining dignified and upbeat in defeat.
We congratulate Cork, it’s tough, but we’re really disappointed ourselves because I want the players to get the rewards for their amazing efforts.
“We brought a terrific crowd as well that were really getting behind the side. It really shows you how a club can grow and how football can galvanise a team and galvanise a town and give people something to live for.”
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