O’Hara’s drawn down

Declan O’Hara admitted that yesterday’s draw with Coleraine was “a tough one to take” having led 2-0.

Goals from Ronan Hale and Ronan Doherty put Cliftonville into a seemingly comfortable position only for he Bannsiders to hit back through a quickfire Matthew Shevlin brace.

Hale and substitute Joe Gormley went close to winning it for the Reds as the clock ticked down but, following an evident momentum swing in the immediate aftermath of the away side’s equaliser, Assistant Manager O’Hara acknowledged that the contest could have gone either way.

“We could have lost it but we also could have won it at the end when Joe’s had two chances and Ronan’s had a chance,” he said.

“When you’re 2-0 up, it feels like a defeat to be quite honest. It was the same last Friday night against Carrick when we dropped points in the last minute. Today, we’re two up, well in the game and Coleraine changed shape and we didn’t deal with it.

“The goals we’re conceding at the minute are totally, totally not acceptable from our defence right through to our midfield and frontmen. It’s down to us as staff to put it right.

“I think that’s 31 goals we’ve conceded in the League this season, which is a lot for a team that’s sitting where we are. It’s a concern because it’s not like us. Last year, I think we had 21 or 22 clean sheets and we were defending as a unit.

“We’ve worked on it, we’ve watched it on the big screen, we’re trying to put it right and, as a staff and management team, we can only do so much. The players are on the pitch and they have to deal with the situation. One thing we will do is when we’re back in here on Monday night, we’ll put it right and get ready for going down to Glenavon for another difficult game.”

Though Cliftonville deserved their lead, there was no question that both goals came in fortuitous circumstances; Hale’s long-range effort being spilled over the line by goalkeeper Martin Gallagher before Doherty converted straight from a corner.

O’Hara was grateful for that luck and revealed: “We have a running joke with Ronan about why he’s shooting all the time – I think that’s maybe 101 shots he’s had this season – and he’s hit it and anything can happen. Then Olly’s goes straight in for a corner and you take them because sometimes we don’t get luck like that. If we hadn’t scored those two goals, we could be sitting here having a different conversation.

“The next goal’s so important. If we get the third, the game might be over but if they get the next one, they would just come at us. Credit to them, they changed shape at half-time and put Lyndon Kane into the centre of midfield and caused us problems. It’s a tough one to take.”