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McKenna: Perfect storm of fatigue took its toll, and red card for Steven just summed up our day


By Matt Leslie

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A DESPONDENT Tom McKenna was left wondering if battle fatigue had taken hold of his players following the 3-1 home defeat by Cove.

The Wick boss saw his side come out flying in the first half only to look jaded and tired as Cove appeared to grow stronger as the game went on.

Academy have had a number of fixtures fly in thick and fast over the past few weeks as matches hit by the cold snap earlier in the season had to be fulfilled.

Being low on numbers due to injuries and work commitments has left Academy struggling to fill the subs’ bench at times, and McKenna wondered if it all came to a head in the second half.

“We knew at half-time they were going to come at us,” he said. “They used the pitch to their advantage, not to mention the quality that they have and were able to utilise.

“It’s a hard one to take. The boys did really well in the first half – the goal we scored was a good one.

“Sam [Mackay] is good at that – he can burst through the

middle from deep in midfield and his timing was rewarded with a goal.

“I just think that in the second half there was no urgency in the game and the tempo was poor.

“I don’t know if all the travelling we’ve been doing of late to fulfil midweek fixtures has taken its toll on the lads, but they didn’t look like the same set of players who had been working well these past few weeks.

“We knew Cove were going to push forward but our lads were just not equal to it today.

“We just looked flat and I’ve no explanation as to why that was.

“Maybe having lost our unbeaten run the other week knocked the stuffing out of the boys – who knows?

“But I like to think that self-pride and playing for the badge of your football club can come to the fore.

“We didn’t offer anything, or test the goalkeeper, and we were careless with the ball.

“The sending off just summed up the day. Michael [Steven] should know better, being captain of this football club.”


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