'Second half display was very poor' - Gregg

INSTITUTE manager John Gregg was bitterly disappointed by his side's display in what was built as their most important game of the season prior to the kick-off against fellow strugglers Lisburn Distillery.

However the Coleraine man also felt that his men, who were leading at half-time, lost the game in the early stages after the break.

"The first 20 minutes of the second half lost us the game, it was that simple" declared Gregg.

"I told the players at half-time that we needed to come out of the blocks fast, because the game is far from over and I said if we could score a second it would kill them off but they came out and we gave six free-kick's in a row in and around the edge of our box and that meant we were on the back foot.

"I also felt we were nervous especially whenever it went to 1-1 and 1-2 we were edgy and nervous.

"However I have always said that from now until the end of the season it's going to be a battle."

The 'Stute gaffer conceded that his team's second half performance wasn't what he expects of any team he puts out.

"That second half was nothing like the way I like my teams to play, first and foremost my teams battle above anything else and in the second half there wasn't much," he added.

"We defended very well at the Oval last Tuesday night, but as a team we didn't defend well at all; you can't pick and choose your games when you want to defend and compete and our second half display on Saturday was very poor."

Another incident which annoyed Gregg was keeper Gavin Cullen's dismissal for handling the ball outside his area.

"I asked the referee why did he send Gavin off and he said because he denied a goalscoring opportunity, but I ask myself what did Glenn Ferguson do whenever he handled the ball inside the six yard for our penalty.

"Was that not the same, did he not deny us a goal scoring opportunity whenever he blocked Ruairi Boyle's shot, but to be honest those decisions can't take away from the fact that we were poor in the second half," concluded Gregg.

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