Sligo Rovers manager Gerard Lyttle was left furious after officials failed to stop play for a head injury during the lead-up to the only goal in his side's 1-0 defeat to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium on Friday night.
Lyttle's team delivered an encouraging and impressive performance but were ultimately foiled by a goal scored just before the hour mark.
Midfielder Rhys McCabe was grounded with a facial injury, but referee Neil Doyle allowed play to continue.
From the resultant passage, with Sligo effectively down to ten men, the hosts manufactured the only goal with Dan Carr applying the finish.
The Sligo touchline expressed their anger in real-time and, speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, Lyttle insisted that the officials had let him down.
"I feel absolutely devastated for my players tonight. I think we've dominated the game from start to finish and we've been done by a decision which hasn't gone in our favour," he said.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but the rules say if there's a head injury, the play has to stop.
"The officials have let me down tonight. I might get in trouble for saying that but I have to speak my mind.
"Right in front of the referee, whether it was deliberate or not from a Shamrock Rovers player, Rhys McCabe has been elbowed.
"He's been elbowed, he's gone down and it's a head injury. Whether they think it's a serious one or not, the rules state that you should stop the play.
"The fourth official has told me that he told the referee to stop the play and he (the referee) didn't do it.
"Now, you can say that after that, the play has run on and we should have been set up properly. But we were a man down.
"Apart from that Shamrock Rovers haven't threatened us. We've controlled the game and bossed large parts of it."
Full-time. @ShamrockRovers 1-0 @sligorovers. The #bitored are beaten despite the majority of the ball. Not enough clear chances and need to do more to get points despite many positive signs
— Sligo Rovers (@sligorovers) March 30, 2018
Lyttle insisted that the decision had cost his team the game but stressed that if Sligo continue to deliver performances like they did in Tallaght, the results will follow.
"I can honestly say that I'm very proud of my players tonight for they played and how they conducted themselves. Things will turn. If we put in performances like we did tonight and last week and the week before, our luck is going to change."
"I don't think Neil (Doyle) has had a bad game, to be fair to him. That one incident has cost us the game.
"But in terms of his fourth official, he was wrong. I'm going to speak to the referee about it, but how he conducted himself on the sideline was pretty pathetic and unprofessional.
"We haven't made a mistake tonight. The officials have made a mistake which has cost us the game."
