ATHLONE TOWN MANAGER ALAN MATTHEWS was almost apologetic when he opened the door of the Letterkenny Rovers dressing room last night to address a heartbroken bunch.
Rovers, playing at this stage of the competition for the first time, more than matched the League of Ireland outfit, but just couldn’t carve a breakthrough themselves.
This was Rovers’ 12th game in national competition this year following their run to the Intermediate Cup final, but the late concession was ‘a sore one’, according to midfielder Mark Forker.
[adrotate group=”41″]“Everyone is devastated in there,” said Forker, who gave a vintage, controlled display in the Rovers engine room.
“We gave a really good account of ourselves. We matched them.
“It was a sore one at the end. In the second period of extra time we were the better side. We were very leggy in the first period, but we grew into it.
[adrotate group=”42″]“It looked like if there was going to be someone to nick it that it would be us. We got a second win and they were on the ropes…unfortunately it was just taken away from us in the last few minutes.”
Former Hearts youth player Forker, who has also had spells at Finn Harps and Institute, was one of those to really step up to the plate in the replay.
Rovers’ magical cup run is over, but they do have a domestic cup final, the Ulster Senior League Cup final, against Cockhill Celtic to come.
[adrotate group=”64″]“We have had an incredible year,” Forker said.
“What happened in the Aviva (the 5-0 loss to Crumlin United) was disappointing. We felt that we didn’t do ourselves justice. We got it together and gave a really good account of ourselves in Athlone.
“We were outstanding tonight and I think that was as good as we’ve played in the entire cup runs. We dug in when we had to and we played football when we had to.”
[adrotate group=”65″]Listen to the full interview below …
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/mark-forker-after-athlone-town-defeat-letterkenny-rovers
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