St. Patrick's Athletic midfielder Chris Forrester believes his side fought well despite falling to a 2-1 defeat to Dundalk in the EA Sports Cup at Richmond Park on Monday night. Five minutes into the game, Dundalk's Georgie Kelly gave his side the
St. Patrick's Athletic midfielder Chris Forrester believes his side fought well despite falling to a 2-1 defeat to Dundalk in the EA Sports Cup at Richmond Park on Monday night.
Five minutes into the game, Dundalk's Georgie Kelly gave his side the lead with a shot that rolled over the line after initially being saved by Saints goalkeeper Barry Murphy. James Doona levelled things up with a long-range strike eight minutes later before Dean Jarvis restored the Lilywhites' lead before the break. Forrester came on as a sub at half-time and he felt that Pat's acquitted themselves well in the second half despite failing to find another goal.
"I thought we did really well in the second half," he said. "In the first half, we were a bit disappointed with how we played. The boys felt like we handed them a goal so we knew we needed a response in the second half. I thought we gave that, we were pushing them until the end and I thought we were unlucky not to get an equaliser. It shows the spirit in the camp that the boys are willing to fight. We're not on the best of runs but we're still willing to fight until the end."
The two sides will meet again in the league at the same venue on Friday night and with a number of changes to both starting line-ups expected, Forrester expects another tough game against the champions.
"A lot of their first team players were not playing tonight but they have a lot of talent in their squad. Some of their main lads will come back on Friday and it will be a good test for us and what better game then a big one in Inchicore to get us back going again."
Forrester has yet to establish himself in the Pat's side since returning from Aberdeen over the winter but feels that once he gets himself fully fit, he'll be able to make an impact.
"I'm happy enough being back. I'm still trying to catch up on a bit of confidence and get back to being fully fit. The past two years I haven't really played consecutive games so I just want to get back into it. It's close, it's not too far away. It will click eventually."
Saints will hope to end a run of three consecutive league defeats when Dundalk return to Inchicore on Friday night with a kick-off time of 7.45pm.
