Eddie plans a Setanta Cup Red revolution

Saturday, April 19, 2008

By Conor McLaughlin

Their 2008 campaign continued with a 2-0 defeat to Cork City on Monday night to leave Group 1's Irish League representatives trailing Cork and Drogheda by six points with three rounds of fixtures to come.

Defeats for Cliftonville and Dungannon Swifts when the competition resumes on September 1 will ensure semi-final spots for the eircom League sides, but Patterson insists he and his players are thoroughly enjoying their involvement despite their hardships.

"Cork were the best team we have played this season € and I include KAA Gent in that," he said.

"Their movement, pace and ability was fantastic and they showed real class throughout the 90 minutes.

"Only great goalkeeping, poor finishing and some fortunate defending stopped us from being four or five down by half-time.

"We were disappointed with the goals we conceded in the second half.

"Their first came following fouls on both Mark Holland and Barry Johnston and I was astonished the referee allowed play to go on. Then there was a blatant foul on Aaron Smyth for their second.

"In fairness, though, there's no doubting Cork deserved to win and I can't complain about the outcome € it could have been so much more."

Cliftonville secured a top-three finish in the league without having to kick a ball last weekend thanks to Lisburn Distillery's loss to Donegal Celtic € this ensuring the Reds will be back in the 2009 Setanta Sports Cup.

"That's one of the things we were hoping to achieve when the season began. We wanted to equal or improve upon what we got last season € third place, Europe and Setanta qualification.

"We've got all three, so it's certainly been a successful season on that front.

"We were delighted to ensure our place in the 2009 Setanta Sports Cup. It's been a great experience for us and we've learnt a lot from it and it's great that we're going to be involved again next year."