Bermingham: “It’s the worst we could have played”
ST PATRICK’S Athletic defender Ian Bermingham made no bones about just how poor was his side’s performance that saw them slump to a 2-1 defeat at home to Bray Wanderers on the opening night of the 2017 Airtricity League season.
The Saints faithful had little to cheer about in Richmond Park on Friday, as they were left empty-handed by a Bray side they had trounced 4-0 in the Leinster Senior Cup just a month before.
Goals by Anthony Flood and Tallaght man Gary McCabe effectively sealed the fate of Liam Buckley’s side whose attempts at recovering were undermined by the sending off of Aidan Keena and Darren Dennehy.
Bitterly disappointed with the start they made, Bermingham told The Echo” We had a great pre-season and we were really looking forward to the start of the league so I don’t know where this performance came from.
“Not one of us played well. We didn’t get the ball up to Christy [Fagan] enough and I think we only had one shot in the first half which is just not good enough.
“In the second half we did marginally better, but again it wasn’t good enough.
“Our build-up play needed to be slicker. We just weren’t on our game and in the end it just passed is by. It’s the worst we could have played” he said.
Next up for the Inchicore side will be a clash with newly-promoted Drogheda United who will be coming into this match in United Park off the back of their 1-0 victory over Drogheda United.
Gareth McCaffrey’s strike nine minutes from the end of regulation time was enough to see Pete Mahon’s men return home from Eamonn Deacy Park will full points.
And Bermingham insists Pat’s will have to drastically improve on their open night performance if they are to deny their Louth opponents and get off the mark themselves.
“We know Pete [Mahon] will have them well drilled. They’re dogged and hard working but we’ve got the quality in our team to get the win” said Bermingham.