Institute boss Brian Donaghey admitted watching from the Mark Farren stand was strange

Institute manager Brian Donaghey.Institute manager Brian Donaghey.
Institute manager Brian Donaghey.
Institute manager Brian Donaghey admitted watching his team from the stands and not the dug-out, was a different perspective for him last weekend.

Donaghey, who received a two match suspension following his dismissal against Queen's University, sat in the press area of the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, during last Saturday's impressive 5-1 win over promotion hopefuls Annagh United and conceded at times he enjoyed running his eye on his players from a different vantage point, but also felt it was strange watching from afar.

"You see so much from the back of the Mark Farren Stand," he conceded. "At ground level you don't have that advantage point and it was actually an eerie feeling and it was strange.

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"I'm not too sure if I enjoyed it or didn't enjoy it, but listen you do see a lot from that spot.

"I actually saw how good our shape was at times, which is something you can't really see at ground level just as clear.

"But listen the guys' work-rate was there and to be honest if there was a match to be viewed from a high vantage point, then last Saturday's game against Annagh was the game, and I'll take that.

"But listen once they cross the white line there's nothing me or the coaching staff can do about it. All the preparation is done during the week, like every other club in the country.

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"However as I said once the players go onto the pitch, you just have to trust them and to be fair to them on Saturday, they were full value for the points against Annagh."

This weekend, while Donaghey again will be watching from the terraces, he won't have a similar vantage point at Knockbreda, but regardless of where he's watching the game, he already knows how important it is for his team.

'Stute currently sit on the same amount of points of the Belfast men and a victory would move them clear of Saturday's opponents with just five games remaining, so Donaghey knows how important that is for the team.

"It's an absolutely huge game and listen you can't play it down," he added. "We are level on points with them and maybe with the results last week we are maybe a goal or two behind them on goal difference, whereas before the Annagh game, we were eight or nine goals behind them, so yeah it's a big game.

"If we play the way we did against Annagh then I'm very, very optimistic that we'll get a positive result on Saturday, but the players will have to show the same level of commitment and effort."

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