MARTY HOPING FOR MORE RICH

WEEKEND ROUND-UP & FIXTURES UPDATE

Pictures by BILL SMYTH

EAMON MCCARTHY was a bit more reflective on Sunday afternoon about what he had witnessed 24 hours earlier than, by his own admission, immediately after his side’s opening day defeat at Markethill Swifts.

“I was absolutely fuming following the game but when I sat down on Saturday night and thought it through I was a lot more calm about what I had witnessed,” said the Crewe United boss.

“Don’t get me wrong I was still really disappointed that we had lost a game that we had dominated for the most part – and well done to Markethill for taking their chances – but at least I know it’s an easy enough fix to put right.

“We were really good in the first half and should have had more than Paul Scullion’s headed goal to show for our efforts.

“We were knocking the ball about well and I was really pleased with how we controlled the game but I did have a go at the boys at half-time because they hadn’t been clinical enough in front of goal.”

Unfortunately for Mccarthy those interval concerns were underpinned within 14 minutes of the restart when the Swifts equalised and then went 2-1 ahead eight minutes later to set the tone for a frustrating period as Crewe put themselves in a position were they had to peg the game back on two occasions before eventually losing it four minutes into injury-time.

“It really was a crazy second half and one that was so frustrating to watch.” said Mccarthy.

“In fairness to Markethill they changed their shape and caused us more problems than they had done in the opening half but all their goals were down to individual errors on our behalf.

“We’ve a good squad of players and thankfully I’m in the position to make changes that I’m confident will make the difference. It’s been a difficult pre-season for us all in terms of preparation but