Westport United manager says Roscommon pitch ‘impossible to play’ on following defeat

WESTPORT United’s junior team manager has said it was ‘impossible to play’ on the pitch where they exited the Connacht Cup quarter-final over the weekend.

Anthony O’Neill was speaking after his side were beaten 3-2 by local side St John’s Athletic at their home ground at Killoy, Lecarrow, in Co Roscommon.

The Westport manager said his team had to go ‘more direct’ due to the narrowness of the pitch and the poor-quality playing surface. Michael O’Brien and Cian Halpin equalised twice for the Covies before St John’s secured the victory with an 85th-minute winner.

“We pride ourselves on how we play but when you come to a venue like this with the tightness of the pitch and the surface, it’s just impossible to play. I can’t say anything else other than that. You just cannot play a passing game on it,” O’Neill told The Mayo News.

“Sometimes you might have a bad surface, but you’ll get the width of a pitch. Sometimes you’ll have a narrow pitch, and the surface is good, but we didn’t have either today. We were talking about it as the game was going on as coaching staff; is it something we’re not doing right? Is there something we can change? But ultimately we had to go direct in the second half because how else can you play on a pitch like this? We knew it was going to be bad based on the information we were given. We got here, and it is bad.”

READ: Cup chaos reigns in hectic weekend of Mayo soccer

However, O’Neill did not blame their downfall solely on the playing surface and said his side could have won the game.

“We were effective, though and scored two goals in the second half and created four or five good chances. We had enough chances to get a result here so we have to look at ourselves even though I’m talking about the narrowness of the pitch and the poor surface.”

A full-size, 11-a-side football pitch must be between 90 and 120 meters (100 to 130 yards) long and 45 and 90 meters (50 to 100 yards) wide. 

ACCEPTABLE SIZE

IN response to a request for comment from The Mayo News, St John’s Athletic PRO Cathal Donnelly said the club’s main pitch was an acceptable size and could not be widened any further due to lack of ground. The club’s pitch is 94 metres long and 56 metres wide. 

“We have played on that pitch since 1985,” he said.

Donnelly said the playing surface, which was rolled last week, is being used ‘365 days practically’ and ‘does not get any rest’ due to the number of teams the club fields. Underage teams are currently being kept off the main pitch to rest the surface.

St John’s Athletic currently have one playing pitch, one astroturf pitch to accommodate two adult teams and thirteen underage boys and girls teams. The club are currently looking for land to open a new pitch.

“We’re victims of our own success, and the pitch is getting the brunt of it,” said Donnelly, who manages the club’s U-11 boys team.

Donnelly said the club did not opt to play at the nearby Roscommon and District League facility as it was not their home pitch.

“We play in our own pitch. That’s our academy. If we had to go and play them down in Westport, you have to play in their place,” Donnelly said.