Cork win shows green shoots- O'Donnell

Stephen O’Donnell was a happy man after his side hammered Cork City by five goals to nil at Oriel Park last night.

Hayden Muller struck for the first goal with a header at the back post on 18 minutes. Daryl Horgan scored the second on 27 minutes.

Horgan looked to have got the third on 33 minutes. However, it was an own goal by Cork’s Cian Coleman from a Horgan effort. Goal number four came 10 minutes into the second half when Sam Durrantt shot to the net inside the box.

The fifth goal came three minutes from time when John Martin fired an unstoppable effort to the net.

Manager Stephen O’Donnell says his team were very clinical in their effort. He said that Daryl Horgan was magnificent, particularly in the first half. O’Donnell says that people do not realise that Daryl Horgan had no pre-season. He said he knew when he signed Horgan that people would not see the best of Horgan until late in the season and next season.

The manager says it was a good night all round with Hayden muller scoring along with Sam Durrant, John Martin and Daryl Horgan. He says it was also great to see young Sennan Mullen making his debut.

O’Donnell says Sam Durrant’s goal was top class from a very difficult angle. He also said it was great to see John Martin get his goal at the end. The manager was full of praise for Hayden Muller. He said it was his first full season and that at age 21 he has been thrown into the deep end over the past few weeks.

O’Donnell says he was delighted to see he got the opening goal. He says Hayden is made of the right stuff. He has not missed a day’s training and has not missed a match. The manager said he has got good character and will progress from strength to strength.

O’Donnell says he puts himself under the most pressure. He also realises there has been pressure from fans given the past run of poor reults. He says he does not get involved in the game to finish fifth, sixth or seventh. He said nor does he get involved in the game to be beaten.

The manager says he does not think that Dundalk are far away from having a very good side. He says that the team just has to cut out the silly mistakes and not go behind in 20 out of 30 games as they have done this season.

The manager says their away form is an issue. He agreed that only scoring 14 goals away from Oriel was not acceptable. He also says results away from home were not good enough either.

He says that in many of the away matches they played well but found themselves behind. He says going one nil down in so many games despite the fact they had played well was killing his side. He said that a team can not just concede goals and expect to get back into games.

The manager says that people criticising him because of the performances comes with the territory. The manager says he knows it’s a results oriented business.

But he says he knows there is not a lot wrong with the side. He accepts that this is hard for people to listen to. He says that he knows that it can get a little bit annoying. The manager says he has to call the games the way he sees them. O’Donnell says his side has been dominant in most of the recent games they have lost. He again says they played well in those games. He was critical of the performance in Galway.

The manager says the league has been a little bit topsy turvy this season. He says there has not really been any outstanding teams. He says that they recently played the top 3 teams. Despite losing them, he claims they were the better team. This he says, shows that there is not a whole lot wrong with his team.

The manager says that pre him arriving there was a very talented team in Oriel that finished  sixth in the league. But he says that when he arrived there were only two players signed.

He says the scope in his current team is much better than last year’s team. He says that team overachieved finishing level with Derry. He says the expectations among the fans are a little bit skewed as a result of doing so well last season.

Stephen O’Donnell says he never foresaw losing four games on the bounce, let alone losing to Galway in the cup. But he says it’s part of the team’s evolution and at least he says they can see they have a proper corps to work with now to moving ahead.

He also says his team have a proper age profile for next season. The manager says he can see green shoots in the team. He says it is up to them to hammer that home in the off season. He says he is very confident that his team will be a lot closer to the finished article from the beginning of next season.

O’Donnell says he can’t comment on what fans say that it’s time for him to go because of the results.

He says it’s part of the course of the industry he is in. He says he can do nothing about the supporters who want him out. He says he is always confident of his vision and that he is always confident of what he is building towards.

This he says, has not changed. He says he knows he has to get results. He says he accepts the defeat in the cup against Galway will really have got to supporters. He says that there is always making up to fans after results like that.

But O’Donnell asks again do the fans not realise the achievement his side had last season given that the year before the team finished sixth in the league. The manager says last year his team came joint second. This, he says, has to be recognised. He says his aims for the first two years when he came in were to build solid foundations. He says he does not think his side are that far away now.