Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley cut a frustrated figure after the 1-1 draw with Limerick that extended his side's winless run to four matches.
They already trail joint leaders Cork and Dundalk by 11 points with a game more played.
The Hoops dominated the opening period at Tallaght Stadium but were unable to add to Graham Burke's 15th-minute goal.
The visitors were more competitive after the break and came away with a share of the points thanks to Danny Morrissey's late equaliser.
"It's a tough one to take," Bradley told RTÉ Sport. "We controlled the game.
"We created enough chances to win three games, never mind one, and we didn't put them away. We got punished for it."
Limerick had just two shots on target but Morrissey made one of them count, meaning Rovers have taken just one point from their last four SSE Airtricity Premier Division league games.
"That's the way it's going against us at the moment," observed Bradley. "One chance and it's a goal. But we still should put the game to bed. We had enough chances to kill the game off.
"Their keeper made two great saves to be fair to him, and we had two others where we made the wrong decision.
"It was just one of those nights. We could have been three or four up at half-time and we weren't.
"When you don't kill teams off there's always the chance of them scoring and that's what happened. It's frustrating."
Limerick boss Tommy Barrett praised the performance of goalkeeper Brendan Clarke and believed a tactical adjustment had helped them to steady the ship.
"A good result. We're happy with the performance as well," he said.
"Brendan has been excellent for us. He's a top-class keeper, one of the better keepers in the league.
"He kept us in the game in the first half. But I thought we had the better chances in the second half. Danny (Morrissey) should have scored and it was a great finish by him for the goal.
"We didn't expect them to play 3-5-2 so we made a change after half an hour and matched them up.
"I think that worked in the second half."
