Kearney delighted with response against Linfield
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Coleraine’s Stephen Lowry enjoyed the upper hand on Tuesday as brother Philip was in the losing Linfield team.
COLERAINE manager Oran Kearney says he was delighted with his team's response in the 1-0 win over Linfield, coming as it did just days after the heartbreak of losing the IRN-BRU League Cup final to Crusaders.
A committed team performance, full of grit and determination, saw to it that the Bannsiders won 1-0 with a Shane Jennings goal, their first home win over the Blues in the league in almost ten years.
It was the perfect antidote to the anodyne performance at Ballymena just days previously and demonstrates that the players learnt some lessons from the cup final defeat.
“It was a great response," admitted the Bannsiders' boss.
“I didn't know we would get the result but I knew we would get a response.
“No matter what they thought over the weekend we told the players that the cup final would be a positive experience in their life and career.
“They all learned something from that experience and hopefully that will drive them on to success in their career."
Kearney also revealed that a frank exchange of views prior to the game had assisted in getting the players mentally right for Tuesday's game against the champions. "It was like a question and answer session before the match," continued Oran.
“I went round a few players and asked them - what would you do different if the cup final was this Saturday?
“We went round five or six of them - it was almost like an open forum - and thankfully all the answers that came back to me were great answers and answers that showed me they had thought about it all weekend and that the defeat had festered.
“I think we saw a lot of that frustration in the performance against Linfield.
“For example, I thought Shane got gobbled up by Coates in the cup final but against Albert Watson and Murphy he showed that wee bit of nous and guile that was missing on Saturday.
“There was a big fear after the final - I've seen it end seasons, even end careers, because it haunts people for so long - but to get Saturday out of the system with a performance like that is just brilliant.
“It gives us a chance now of kicking on and achieving something."
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