Kee gutted after Villagers’ late strike denies them

Kee conceded that his side probably didn’t deserve to win, but they should have seen the game out after getting themselves in front late on before conceding an equaliser deep into stoppage time.

“We didn’t do enough offensively in the whole game,” stated the ’Stute gaffer.

“Michael McCrudden made a bit of a difference when he came on but we didn’t create enough, we didn’t test their keeper enough, and there wasn’t enough energy.

“When we scored I thought we would have seen the game out but we didn’t and that’s disappointing.

“There was not enough creativity, not enough energy expended on the day and we simply failed to test their goalkeeper enough.

“I can’t remember their goalkeeper making too many saves on the day. However, when we scored the goal I really felt we would be capable of seeing the game out, but we didn’t and that was very disappointing.”

Kee was also frustrated that a number of his key players like Darren McCauley, Aaron Walsh and Gary Henderson to name but three weren’t at their best on Saturday.

“It’s about character and understanding how to win matches and they are still developing that,” he added.

“If you want to be the best, you can’t have players taking rests and waiting for others to do it.

“Football isn’t like that; you need nine performers consistently. You can carry one or two but we didn’t have enough performers in the first half.

“In the second half we did and we made a bigger effort but we didn’t get enough going offensively, but we’re still unbeaten so this match will be quickly forgotten about.”

The Drumahoe man also believes that Darren McCauley, who is the club’s leading goalscorer, may need to change his game slightly.

Loughgall boss Gary McKinstry ensured that McCauley wasn’t given any room throughout the 90 minutes.

“We may need to move Darren deeper, he’s been playing further up the field for us, but in recent weeks things just hasn’t worked out,” Kee stated.

“Sides are now starting to double up on him because he’s got a bit of a reputation since the start of the season, but he needs to deal with that.

“I know he has been carrying an injury and because we have had a number of players out he has had to play, but we are starting to get the likes of Michael McCrudden and Stephen Parkhouse back, so maybe we’ll be able to rest him so that his injury can hopefully clear up.”

Striker Darren McFadden missed out through suspension, while Parkhouse continues to recover from his back problem, Kee admitted they looked light weight up front on Saturday.

Duo Tom Carlin and Robbie Hume played against the Villagers but in truth they never really looked like scoring as the big Loughgall back-line stood firm throughout.

“We do lack a physical presence up front,” admitted Kee. “McFadden is suspended and Parkhouse is coming back from injury and we don’t have that physical element which is a problem for us, as we saw on Saturday.

“To be fair Robbie (Hume) is just back in training after missing the last few weeks, while Tom (Carlin) is a young striker who is still learning how to cope to play at this level.”

Kee wants his players to learn from Saturday’s score-draw and become more street wise.

“We were one up and we should have seen the game out but we didn’t.

“We started off the first five matches and scored a lot of goals, and teams are working hard against us now so we have to raise our game.

“It’s not necessarily about ability, about character and endeavour and commitment and that’s what we’ve been talking about. We’re working in the right direction.”