MANN-SIZED TASK HAS GONE WELL

RYAN MANN insists there’s plenty of room for improvement at Donaghadee after his side clinched their place in the last four of the Cochrane Corry Cup with a 2-0 win over Ford. First half goals from Brett Hamilton and Andrew Parkinson eased the visitors home at Fullerton Park at the weekend, with the victory setting up a semi-final clash against 2C outfit St Matthews – who ended high-flying Beann Mhadaghain’s interest on Saturday – at Seaview on Wednesday, March 20. After taking the reins over the summer from Jamie Bryson who guided the club into 2A, it’s been another season of steady progress for the Crommelin Park side, who have lost just twice all season in their new division, while marching to the brink of a first ever cup final appearance in the Amateur League. “It was a good performance on Saturday because they aren’t a bad side,” said Mann. “We played them earlier on in the season and beat them 4-0, it wasn’t a 4-0 game, but for us the quality shone through on Saturday and our discipline was great, whereas they had a few men sent off which let them down. “So next up it’s St Matthews. We played them a few weeks ago in another cup, we beat them 3-1 but they are a good side and I think they had a couple missing that day. “But we’ll be going into it knowing we’re in for a great game at Seaview because they are a good footballing side and had a great result on Saturday there.” The cup run aside, there remains a nagging sense of what might have been in the league for Mann, who feels his team have frittered away silly points, with five draws from their 12 league outings damaging their bid for a second place finish. “We’ve done well but there’s been too many draws for us, the games we drew, if truth be told, we should have won most of them,” added Mann. “There have been games where we just haven’t saw it out, and late goals have killed us. That’s been our problem, they haven’t been good draws if you know what I mean. “But it’s our first season in 2A and no disrespect to 2C or 2B, or when we played in them anyway because 2B is very strong this year, but 2A is a step above, literally, a lot of sides can beat each other which we have seen. “But it’s Greenisland’s to lose, they are a good quality side, so there are a lot of us playing for second.” Nevertheless, with his club still in the hunt for honours, Mann says he’s enjoying his debut season as boss. “It’s been great,” he said, “and Lyndon Mccullough has been a great help. He was the coach last year too and then I brought back Jamie, he knows the boys and with me still playing, a pair of extra hands always helps.”