Vera Pauw bunched her players into a huddle as the rain teemed down in Perth.
A 2-1 defeat to Canada means the Republic of Ireland can not make it out of the group, and that reality stung them all. Anguish, frustration, regret - all of those emotions will stew for a couple of days before some perspective kicks in.
Housed in a very tough group, Ireland were always battling against the odds. They pushed higher-ranked opponents close in two competitve games but both losses ultimately boiled down to two simple factors: quality and depth.
For about 35 minutes against Canada, Ireland were just about perfect.
The loss of Heather Payne in the warmup [hamstring] was a blow, but deputy Aine O'Gorman dovetailed well with Lucy Quinn who offered solidity and drive on the right.
Ruesha Littlejohn chased Canada playmaker Jessie Fleming out of the game, hounding her into making sideways and backwards passes. No Irish player covered more distance than Littlejohn against Australia [10,719km]; to produce the effort she did here was impressive.
Her graft enabled Sinead Farrelly and Denise O'Sullivan to decorate the occasion with some moments of real class, while the big pay-off to all of this endeavour was the release of Katie McCabe.
The skipper was frequently able to drive into Canada's half in the first half-hour and it's no coincidence Ireland subsequently made chances.
The Olympic champions were on the ropes, but the knockout blow of a second goal never came. And it badly needed to come.
Before we assess how the rest of the contest played out, it should be stressed that Canada were dreadful in that opening period. It's difficult to imagine how they could have played any worse on the turnaround.
Still, Priestman's starting selection ultimately proved smart. While Pauw had youth and energy on her bench, Canada had experience. Tonnes of it.
After Megan Connolly's own goal in first-half stoppage time gave the Canadians an undeserved equaliser, Priestman got her side into the dressing room and delivered a few home truths. Then she made a triple change.
On came 30-year-old Tottenham centre-half Shelina Zadorsky, who would make a crucial block to deflect McCabe's late effort wide. Sophie Schmidt, a 35-year-old NWSL veteran, replaced Grosso and set up Adriana Leon's equaliser. And in place of the peripheral Eveleyne Veins, in came Christine Sinclair, 40 years of age with 190 international goals to her name and playing in her sixth World Cup. She may not have got on the scoresheet, but Ireland's central defensive three were constantly occupied by her movement and presence.
They are three brilliant weapons to introduce to a game of football when it's on a knife edge.
Pauw turned to Abbie Larkin [18, 9 caps], Marissa Sheva [26, 5 caps] and Izzy Atkinson [22, 7 caps] to help chase the game. All three acquitted themselves perfectly well, but it was indicative of the gulf that exists between Ireland and the countries ranked inside the world's top ten.
"If we would have been able to capitalise with one more goal, it would have been a different story of course."
Pauw acknowledged it herself afterwards when she said: "This is our first tournament, our first World Cup. You can see they have many behind them, in their pockets.
"The experience shows in that they just wait for those few moments and they know how to react in those situations. The thing is, if we would have been able to capitalise with one more goal, it would have been a different story of course.
"But all credit to them, bringing that calibre of players on the pitch, it shows the difference and it shows the glue of the team."
Last week Australia manager Tony Gustavsson said Ireland had clear weaknesses that could be exploited, highlighting their tendency to fade late in each half.
The concession of the Canadian equaliser just before the break was more evidence of that habit, with Priestman admitting she'd been banking on tired legs to offer up opportunities.
"If I look at the depth of Ireland, I knew what their lineup was going to be," said the Englishwoman.
"Naturally they've grown their depth and their programme has grown but I knew the longer the game went on we'd grow in strength because I knew some of my selections were designed to do that, so when we needed to bring some quality into the game we could.
"I must say Ireland, hats off to them, hats off to Vera. Katie McCabe is a world class."
McCabe was indeed superb. Red-eyed and emotional at the final whistle, the Tallaght native was a tornado of bloody-minded determination to drag her team to a result. It just wasn't enough.
"Do it for the love of it," McCabe said when asked what her message would be to young girls watching this World Cup dreaming of following in her footsteps.
"For myself and each and every player in my team, the reason we started playing football was because of the love we have for the game and the smile it brings to our faces, the people you meet along the way, the teammates you have, and creating special moments like this.
"This is our first ever major tournament and I know for a fact, given those performances we put in, it won't be our last. I want young girls and young boys in Ireland to dream and look up to us, because it could be them one day sitting here, playing and representing their country.
"I'm so proud and honoured to be able to lead the team to our first ever major tournament. For us, yeah it was about creating history getting here but it’s also about leaving a legacy behind as well.
"We’ve given those girls and boys in Ireland the chance to dream and be like us one day. I hope we’ve done them proud, I hope we’ve done the nation proud."
They certainly haven't let anyone down. The cold analysis is, Ireland aren't making the last 16 because of a dearth of genuine quality in the top third.
But what an experience it's been. There's plenty of reasons to believe this will not be their last adventure.
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