Neil
25/06/2001, 10:38 AM
Liam Murphy was clearly an unhappy man after his side's Intertoto Cup hopes fell asunder on Saturday evening in Latvia.
The Leesiders collapsed to a poor Metalurgs team in Daugava, losing 2-1 in the second leg and 3-1 on aggregate. Murphy did not hide his disgust at the Latvians' behaviour during the game on Saturday.
"Five times they had the stretcher carriers on the field for treatment to their players," he told David O'Reilly of the Irish Sun. "The carry-on was too theatrical for me altogether."
City striker James Mulligan was red carded in the second half not long after he came on as a substitute, and though some City supporters have criticised the Dubliner, Murphy defended his player.
"The turning point in the match was the sending off of James Mulligan five minutes before half-time because when he came on he was full of beans and looked like he might do something for us in attack," said Murphy.
"Some of the Latvians were making a meal out of nothing - but that was typical of them. While I don't begrudge them their win, it disappointed me the way they play-acted and feigned injury and the way they tried to boss the Bulgarian referee."
While Metalurgs look forward to facing Herenveen of Holland in the next round, City have to prepare for the rather meaningless Super Cup, which kicks off on Wednesday.
In future seasons, eircom League teams - like the Latvians this year - will be playing their European football in the middle of their season, and Murphy believes the fact that Cork lacked match practice militated against their chances of progressing.
"It's no exaggeration to say that if we played the same opposition in a month or six weeks time, I have no doubt we would win the game," he said.
"The Latvians certainly had the edge in terms of match practice, but it was still very disappointing for us to lose to a limited team. I cannot see them progressing much further in this year's Interoto Cup.
"I just hope we learn something from our experiences in Latvia and we can use that to our benefit when our own League season kicks off in August," he added.
The Leesiders collapsed to a poor Metalurgs team in Daugava, losing 2-1 in the second leg and 3-1 on aggregate. Murphy did not hide his disgust at the Latvians' behaviour during the game on Saturday.
"Five times they had the stretcher carriers on the field for treatment to their players," he told David O'Reilly of the Irish Sun. "The carry-on was too theatrical for me altogether."
City striker James Mulligan was red carded in the second half not long after he came on as a substitute, and though some City supporters have criticised the Dubliner, Murphy defended his player.
"The turning point in the match was the sending off of James Mulligan five minutes before half-time because when he came on he was full of beans and looked like he might do something for us in attack," said Murphy.
"Some of the Latvians were making a meal out of nothing - but that was typical of them. While I don't begrudge them their win, it disappointed me the way they play-acted and feigned injury and the way they tried to boss the Bulgarian referee."
While Metalurgs look forward to facing Herenveen of Holland in the next round, City have to prepare for the rather meaningless Super Cup, which kicks off on Wednesday.
In future seasons, eircom League teams - like the Latvians this year - will be playing their European football in the middle of their season, and Murphy believes the fact that Cork lacked match practice militated against their chances of progressing.
"It's no exaggeration to say that if we played the same opposition in a month or six weeks time, I have no doubt we would win the game," he said.
"The Latvians certainly had the edge in terms of match practice, but it was still very disappointing for us to lose to a limited team. I cannot see them progressing much further in this year's Interoto Cup.
"I just hope we learn something from our experiences in Latvia and we can use that to our benefit when our own League season kicks off in August," he added.