St Patrick's Athletic manager Tim Clancy's frustration was evident on Monday night after a 2-1 defeat against Shamrock Rovers in which he felt his side deserved something from the game.
Coming off the back of a 2-2 draw at Finn Harps on Friday when two late goals saw victory slip from their grasp, the Inchicore side were unable to bounce back immediately when the champions visited Richmond Park three days later.
Second-half goals from Andy Lyons and Aaron Greene had Rovers in front before Eoin Doyle scored what proved to be a late consolation.
But speaking to RTÉ Sport, Clancy felt it was a game in which Saints should have salvaged much more but for costly moments.
"We deserve a point. I don't think anyone will leave this ground saying that we didn't deserve anything out of the game," he said.
"I'm not saying we deserved to win it but we certainly deserved something out of the game."
Clancy felt the result hinged on a few inopportune moments.
"[It's] disappointing, the biggest thing is we're coming away from a game again that we've missed chances every bit as good as the ones they've scored and it finishes 2-1," he said.
"Just the decision-making in the final third is probably what resulted in us not getting more goals, probably shooting when we should be slipping in lads and when we get slipped in then [we're] running out over the end line instead of making them defend.
"And you get punished against very good teams like Shamrock Rovers."
Clancy described both goals conceded to the Hoops as "poor" and felt his side could have showed more experience in preventing them.
"There are times we can get closer and probably be more cynical in the middle of the pitch when we are getting broken on. There is nothing wrong with fouling. That's experience and probably something we don't have enough of in the squad at the minute," he said of the first goal, before adding that the second Rovers goal was "inexcusable" to concede.
📹 | GOAL!@ShamrockRovers take the lead through Andy Lyons! ☘️
— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) June 27, 2022
A nice finish from the youngster 🙌
🔴0-1☘️
Watch live | https://t.co/dY4P6TM49z 📺#LOI | #LOITV pic.twitter.com/b0J1IlAKEp
Meanwhile, Shamrock Rovers defender Sean Gannon was pleased to come out on top in back-to-back Dublin derbies against Bohemians and St Pat's.
Those two wins mean Stephen Bradley's side are ten points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division, having played two games more than second-placed Dundalk.
"It's been a big week for us, two great performances, two good wins. The Dublin derbies take on a life of their own. Form is only a small part of it, it’s bragging rights really," said Gannon.
It's a hectic period for the league leaders with a trip to Finn Harps on Friday before the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against Hibernians of Malta next Tuesday.
But Gannon says the Hoops feel suitably prepared to deal with whatever the calendar throws at them.
"It's a very busy period coming up. We have got a big squad and the reason we have a big squad is to deal with periods like this. If you look at the squad, everyone is equal, anybody can play at any time so we just have to trust our squad," he said.
"We don’t really complain about the games coming thick and fast. If you want to successful and be challenging for a number of competitions, you have to deal with periods like this.
"It’s an exciting period but we can look no further than Finn Harps because it’s a very, very tough game going up there. They’ll be confidence after their last-minute equaliser [against St Pat's on Friday], and it’s a really tough place to go.
"We need to make sure we prepare right from now until Friday, go up there and give a good account of ourselves."
