Groundhog Day for Barry Gray and Warrenpoint Town

It was the third time this season the Bannsiders have edged out the Point 2-1.

And for the third time Gray’s side pushed the title chasers all the way before ultimately ending up with nothing to show for their efforts.

The Milltown boss was slightly frustrated they ended up pointless, but said they had to look at the bigger picture.

“That’s three times this year Coleraine have beaten us 2-1, and narrowly,” said Gray.

“And you’d question at least two of them of those games as to whether to whether we were unlucky not to take something out of them or not.

“We have to be realistic, 12 months ago we were sitting rock bottom

“Coleraine are pushing for top spot in the league, and have been all year, and we’ve competed with them strongly in all three games.

“That’s massive progress for us. It doesn’t stop us getting frustrated about results like today, but we have to look at the bigger picture of where we’ve come from and where we are now, and be optimistic about where we can go moving forward.”

The hosts took the lead in spectacular fashion as Kealan Dillon fired home from outside the box.

But the lead only lasted three minutes as Stephen O’Donnell headed in from a set-piece.

The Bannsiders skipper then headed in a winner with ten to go to leave Gray frustrated with the manner of the goals and what he thought was a foul on Gabriel Sava in the build up to O’Donnell’s second.

“Our management of going one up was poor, and our management of going 1-1 was poor,” he said.

“You see free kicks given 99 per cent of the time for players coming together in the box, whether it is or isn’t.

“There’s this notion of keeper protection

“So when he’s in that area and there’s players around him and there’s contact, more times than enough it’s a free kick out.

“You could see by my reaction on the bench I wasn’t happy with it, but if I’m wrong I’m wrong.

“The keeper should have caught the ball when it came in the first time and there would have been no complaints.

“Our frustration has probably been boiled over from Sava’s lack of decision in the first place.

“That cost us dearly to be honest. At that point of the game we just needed to stay in it.

“But outside that I’m delighted with the players’ performance and application in this type of schedule.”

READ MORE:

Danske Bank Premiership Team of the Week

Danny Wallace looks set for move away from Warrenpoint Town

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor