Cook satisfied with positive start to the season
Wednesday March 10 2010
Sligo Rovers manager Paul Cook expressed his satisfaction with his side's opening night draw against Shamrock Rovers at the Showgrounds on Saturday.
"There were a lot of plaudits for us and I was generally pleased," said Cook.
"We had a number of players making their first league appearance and they all did well. I think the fact that the players were disappointed not to have won when they got back to the dressing room speaks for itself," he added.
Cook praised the workrate of his players throughout against a strong Shamrock Rovers outfit. "We knew what to expect and we knew how they would line up. They had an extra player in midfield which meant that they enjoyed a lot of possession.
"While fans can get a little bit frustrated in those circumstances, the important thing to remember is that Shams didn't create that many chances. Okay, they had one shot in the first-half and maybe another one in the second, but apart from that we were reasonably comfortable," Cook maintained.
"I probably would have taken the draw before the game if it was offered to me. They will be there or thereabouts but the good thing from our point of view is that we were not that far off them at all.
"In fact, had their goalkeeper not got a touch to Ritchie Ryan's effort(which crashed off the angle of post and crossbar in the 55th minute), the match would have been different.
"We would have defended then and I think if we had gone two up we would have taken full points," Cook argued.
The Rovers manager was also delighted with the big crowd for the new season's curtain raiser and has now appealed to fans to keep the momentum going.
"The crowd was magnificent. Shams always bring a big support with them, but we had well over 2,500 people there and both for myself and the players that was a great source of encouragement.
"If we want to be successful, we have to keep that going. The more finance that is generated through the turnstiles, the stronger we will become.
"We have a home game against Galway United coming up in two weeks time and let's see the Showgrounds packed again," he urged.
"Overall, I was happy with our performance against Shams. I was pleased for Paul Whelan, Iarfhlaith Davoren, Gary McCabe and Padraig Amond in particular and indeed all the lads lacked nothing in effort.
"This is going to be a very competitive league and it was nice to get a result from our first game," said Cook.
