Buckley rues failure to take chances

Following St Patrick’s Athletic’s one all draw at the UCD Bowl where Liam Buckley’s side were undone by two disallowed goals and the right foot of Samir Belhout, you could forgive the Saints boss for not being in good humour. But that is not the character which you deal with when talking to Mr. Buckley post match.

He summed up the game, and in particular the second half in decisive manner, praising UCD for the sterling defensive effort. Buckley did feel that his side did enough though to leave campus with all three points.

“I thought we played reasonably ok in the second half, certainly enough to win the match. In fairness UCD worked very hard themselves, they were probably more geared towards getting a point, they played not to lose and that’s exactly what happened. From our point of view we created quite a few chances in the second half, it is what it is and we’ve got to just take it on the chin and move onto the next game. “

Despite being unbeaten in the league against the Students since October of 2010, the Saints do not always find it easy against their Dublin rivals. The prime example came earlier this campaign when their blushes were spared by a late winner. Buckley believes his side were good enough to win the affair but a defensive lapse ultimately cost two points.

“Yeah we did win late on earlier in the campaign, and had we got it again this evening no one would have complained. I thought we did enough to win the game, but that said we gave away a stupid goal ourselves in the first half. I thought we had three or four really good chances before they scored and we haven’t taken them. So from the time they scored it was a dogfight all the way to the end. “

The Saints thought they had snatched another late victory when Killian Brennan turned home a shot from Daryl Kavanagh. Unfortunately for Brennan and Pats though, the linesman, after a long thought, ruled it offside. Buckley was not prepared to make assumptions though, having not seen the incident itself.

“In fairness to the linesman I think he put the flag up late because one of our lads was off the pitch. It was unfortunate, I need to see it on the video again but he made a call and he has to stand by it. “

With a strike from former Saint Darren Meenan earning title rivals Dundalk a precious three points in Thomond Park, it may have felt like two points dropped. The former Sporting Fingal boss was more philosophical about the ramifications though.

“We aren’t going to win every game this season, but there will be very little between the top teams come the end of the season and if there is a point or two in it, this could prove to be very valuable for us. “

On a more positive note for fans of the reigning champions, they did welcome back striker Mark Quigley from injury. Buckley is excited by the prospect of having “One of the best players in the league” back in the fold before the summer break.

“We are delighted to have Mark back in training so it’s about getting him fit and up to speed, because when we do he is one of the best players in the league. I’m excited to have him back in. “