'We weren't at it today' says Newry City boss Stuart King despite victory over St Mary's
Bob Radcliffe Cup: St Mary’s 1 Newry City 2
Newry City booked their place in the next round of the Bob Radcliffe Cup with a 2-1 win away to St Mary’s on Saturday, but manager Stuart King wasn’t overly pleased with his team’s performance.
City fell behind early on, but goals from Jack Chambers and Kane Rossiter had them in the lead at half-time. They weren’t able to improve their advantage after the break, but did enough to win the game.
“Fair play to St Mary's, I thought they were very good. Big, big credit to them,” King said, speaking to the Newry City’s social media channel.
“Where do I start with that? I thought they scored a goal which was a few yards offside, clearly offside, and the referee hasn't seen it. So we were one down after four or five minutes.
“I think after that we controlled the first half really well, I thought some of our football was really, really good. So going in at half-time, we were talking about our standards and about the standards of the club and how professional we can be. But then I thought we were really poor in the second half.
“Listen, after Tuesday night where I thought we'd done really well against Rathfriland and lost, I said no matter what happens you have to win games even if you're not playing well. I thought we didn't get what we deserved on Tuesday night when we went out on penalties.
“But today we've won ugly, we've definitely won ugly. Yes, we've rested five or six players, but I don't care, I think the players that came into the team are more than good enough to compete and should be more than capable to be a lot better than what we were today. And I generally thought in the second half that it was really poor.”
Although his players fell short of his and their own standards, King conceded that it was a positive that they left the BMG Arena with the win and are into the next round of the competition.
“One hundred per cent, it's a cup competition. Listen, I want to win everything,” he said.
“I know it's probably not possible, but I want to win every game of football I'm involved in. And like I say, I said to them on Tuesday when we did play well, that I want us to learn to win games. We've conceded one goal, which is offside, and we've scored two.
“So, I'm delighted we're through. There is loads of learning to do. I've just talked about standards and what I expect from them as manager, and we weren't at it today.”