STEPHEN KENNY ADMITTED he was disappointed St Patrick’s Athletic could not take at least a two-goal lead to Estonia for the second leg of their Uefa Conference League second qualifying round clash with Nomme Kalju next week.
The visitors to Richmond Park were reduced to nine men by the 64th minute after two quick red cards just after the hour mark.
The Saints finished the night with 32 shots but it took substitute Chris Forrester’s composure in the box as the game entered injury time to break the deadlock.
“We’re not making it easy for ourselves, that’s for sure, but thankfully we got the goal we needed,” Kenny said.
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“It was late, any win in Europe is important, they showed their grit and determination by winning in Albania in the previous round which was a great win for them and we knew they’d give nothing up easy so we are glad to win the game and put ourselves in a strong position going into the second leg.
“We are disappointed we couldn’t get a second, that second goal would have put us in a really strong position, we had a lot of chances to get the second goal and couldn’t quite take them, nevertheless we can’t dwell on that, we are a bit frustrated with that but we will take the 1-0 victory as a good result.
“Ultimately it’s still a good result at home, similar to the result we had in the first round at home, which was a late enough goal as well, we have to go away and have a difficult enough [game].”
As well as two men sent off, Kalju also had six yellow cards and committed numerous tactical fouls to disrupt the flow of the game. One such incident was when Danyl Mashchenko dragged Zach Elbouzedi to the ground as the winger broke free in the first half.
It resulted in the St Pat’s man needed to be replaced and Kenny confirmed afterwards that he was taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated shoulder.
Mashchenko was cautioned for the foul and was later dismissed in the second half when he brought Elbouzedi’s replacement, Jake Mulraney, down in a similar fashion as he sprinted towards the box from the right flank.
The centre back, along with midfielder Rommi Siht will miss the second leg next week, a tie that will be played in Tallinn’s A. Le Coq Arena, the venue where Estonia play their international games.
“They have a lot of quality and they have one or two off the bench that they didn’t use or used late,” Kenny said.
“It’s all to play for going there next week and we’ll have to fight hard to earn the right to get through.”
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'We're not making it easy for ourselves, that's for sure' - Stephen Kenny braced for battle in Estonia
STEPHEN KENNY ADMITTED he was disappointed St Patrick’s Athletic could not take at least a two-goal lead to Estonia for the second leg of their Uefa Conference League second qualifying round clash with Nomme Kalju next week.
The visitors to Richmond Park were reduced to nine men by the 64th minute after two quick red cards just after the hour mark.
The Saints finished the night with 32 shots but it took substitute Chris Forrester’s composure in the box as the game entered injury time to break the deadlock.
“We’re not making it easy for ourselves, that’s for sure, but thankfully we got the goal we needed,” Kenny said.
“It was late, any win in Europe is important, they showed their grit and determination by winning in Albania in the previous round which was a great win for them and we knew they’d give nothing up easy so we are glad to win the game and put ourselves in a strong position going into the second leg.
“We are disappointed we couldn’t get a second, that second goal would have put us in a really strong position, we had a lot of chances to get the second goal and couldn’t quite take them, nevertheless we can’t dwell on that, we are a bit frustrated with that but we will take the 1-0 victory as a good result.
“Ultimately it’s still a good result at home, similar to the result we had in the first round at home, which was a late enough goal as well, we have to go away and have a difficult enough [game].”
As well as two men sent off, Kalju also had six yellow cards and committed numerous tactical fouls to disrupt the flow of the game. One such incident was when Danyl Mashchenko dragged Zach Elbouzedi to the ground as the winger broke free in the first half.
It resulted in the St Pat’s man needed to be replaced and Kenny confirmed afterwards that he was taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated shoulder.
Mashchenko was cautioned for the foul and was later dismissed in the second half when he brought Elbouzedi’s replacement, Jake Mulraney, down in a similar fashion as he sprinted towards the box from the right flank.
The centre back, along with midfielder Rommi Siht will miss the second leg next week, a tie that will be played in Tallinn’s A. Le Coq Arena, the venue where Estonia play their international games.
“They have a lot of quality and they have one or two off the bench that they didn’t use or used late,” Kenny said.
“It’s all to play for going there next week and we’ll have to fight hard to earn the right to get through.”
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