Silke hopes final defeat will spur on St Peter"s FC

St Peter"s management and players were understandably downbeat in the wake of their 2-0 defeat to Ballymun Utd in the FAI Junior Cup final on Sunday. More than the result, it was the manner of their performance which most rankled with the squad. Assistant manager and centre-half Tom Silke admitted St Peter"s had never really got into the game at all. He said he felt the failure to get on the ball and create chances was what had told most against the Athlone side. 'We were solid enough at the back, but we didn"t create enough of chances really,' he said. Silke agreed that Peter"s had found it difficult to get to grips with Ballymun"s three-man midfield. 'We had our home work done. We knew their formation, but it just didn"t happen for us on the day.' 'They passed the ball around well and the better team won on the day. I don"t have any qualms about that.' However, he insisted that all involved in the club should look back with pride on a remarkable cup voyage. 'It"s a super achievement to get this far. It"s probably only in a few years" time that a few of the players will really realise that they were part of an FAI Cup final.' Silke, who has played League of Ireland football with Athlone Town and Longford Town, said he hoped the experience would spur the younger players on to greater effort in the coming years. 'Hopefully a few of the younger players will be back here again or will go on to play League of Ireland and try to better themselves,' he said. (For a full report and pictures from last Sunday"s final, please see page 29).