Duffy: Saturday was a bad day at the office
Manager Jim Duffy put Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Dunfermline down to a bad day at the office after a first half in which they missed a penalty, handed the opposition two goals and suffered two injuries.
Skipper Thomas O’Ware saw an early spot-kick saved before Michael Moffat pounced on slack back-passes by Jamie McDonagh and Mark Russell to put the Pars 2-0 up, while Jamie Lindsay and Jai Quitongo were forced off with injuries.
Greenock gaffer Duffy admitted that the defeat was self inflicted after they were ruthlessly punished for elementary errors in 45 minutes to forget.
He told gmfc.net: “It was a very eventful game. Unfortunately, not in a positive way from our point of view. You look at first half and sometimes you think it’s just not going to be our day.
“You miss a penalty, get two talented young players injured and you have two pass backs that lead up to the goals – so from that perspective it was always going to be a difficult day.
“They [Lindsay and Quitongo] both started the game well and have been playing very well. They are good young players, so it was difficult and you’ve got to change things round.
“But it wasn’t so much that in terms of playing from our point of view – it was self inflicted. If you miss a penalty and give two pass backs then that’s self inflicted. If you make elementary errors then you’re likely to be punished.
“It’s hard enough to win a game here without handing the opposition the initiative. It’s a disappointing day, one of those days that we have to try and get over the best we can.
“Fair play to Dunfermline, I thought they had a real appetite for the game today. I don’t think anymore than we did, but you could see they were a very competitive side today.
“Once we kind of cleared our heads a little bit and got the goal back, I felt there was every chance we could get an equaliser but it just wasn’t to be. We lacked a bit of creativity in the final third and definitely didn’t create as many opportunities as we could.”
The Ton boss felt his side deserved praise for the way they recovered from those early set-backs, though, particularly O’Ware, McDonagh and Russell.
He added: “Credit to players, they never buckled and got a goal back and I thought we were the team most likely to score in the second half. The three young players who made the errors I thought were excellent.
“It’s about how you respond to mistakes, particularly in the game that’s still going on. So you don’t feel sorry for yourself and don’t shy away from responsibility, and none of the players did that.
“I thought Jamie and Mark were terrific and showed great character and mental strength, and I thought Tam O’Ware was immense at the back.
“Jamie took maybe about 10 minutes just to get it out his system, but then he did great for the goal and he handled Paul McMillan, who is a terrific young player, and got forward, so I can’t complain about the mentality of the commitment of the players.”
Images: David Bell
