Kevin O’Connor felt his team looked scared in the opening quarter hour as they conceded twice to slip to a first Under-21 Professional Development League Two South defeat of the season at the hands of Cardiff City.
Goals from the impressive Matty Kennedy and Rhys Healy had The Bluebirds in control at the Cardiff City Stadium inside the opening 16 minutes before Healy added his second, and Cardiff’s third, from the spot late-on as City replaced Brentford at the head of the Under-21 league table.
Speaking to Bees Player after the match Kevin felt that too many of his team had been below par and that it was a deserved win for the hosts.
“It was disappointing to be honest,” said Kevin. “We started really slowly and they got two easy goals. We started to play a bit after that but overall I think too many players were below par tonight. We were beaten by the better team. Conceding two goals in quick succession didn’t help but overall I felt they were better than us in every department and that is the disappointing thing.
“They looked like they were scared in the first 15 or 20 minutes. They were slashing at balls and not doing what we do. I felt we got a reaction in the second-half but the goals that we conceded were really disappointing at this level.”
After falling to their first defeat of the season last night Kevin said that the key now is the way that the players bounce back from this disappointment into training this week and their next league fixture.
“I said to the boys after the game that up until now they have been really good and myself and Lee have been very happy with them,” said Kevin. “Tonight they dropped below their standards and it is like a step back tonight. It is all about their reaction now. The boys were saying in the dressing room that they want to put it right from Wednesday and go from there.”
The Bees had taken seven points from their opening three league matches before their visit to South Wales last night.
Kevin admitted it was disappointing to put in such a sub-par performance after a number of good displays adding that it was up to the coaches to help find a level of consistency in the team’s play.
“It is frustrating that this came off the back of the Queens Park Rangers win,” said Kevin. “However this does happen as they are learning the game. When you are young you are inconsistent and the key is to try and get that consistency and it is our job to try and get them to do that.”
Bees Player subscribers can listen to the full interview with Kevin below