Cork City manager John Caulfield was proud of his side’s efforts despite going down 2-1 to Genk at a packed Turner’s Cross tonight, writes Ger McCarthy.

“We knew when they got the first goal that we would need three and as a result we were a small bit all over the place,” the City manager admitted.

“I thought we gave away a silly goal just before half time and it was all over then, really. In the last round we were underdogs and came through that after a massive performance. I think tonight was really difficult and up against a very good side.

“We had a couple of chances to score in the first leg but it was just a night when a lot of our lads didn’t play as well as they can and made some wrong decisions. Overall, I am immensely proud of them though as this is our first time being in the third qualifying round so it is a great achievement for the club.

“There was a fantastic crowd and atmosphere here tonight and even at 2-0 down, the noise was fantastic. Hopefully, we can kick on now back in the league as we have three games in a week which will be very difficult for us.”

Caulfield reiterated his pride at the effort put in by his players but acknowledged it wasn’t to be and that Genk just about deserved to go through over the two legs.

“We changed our style a little bit after half time as we said let’s forget about the score, go out there and just try and get back in the game. We scored one and possibly could have gotten a second but you could see the quality in Genk’s team, overall we hold our hands up and accept we were beaten by a better team.”