Stephen Bradley remained in bullish and upbeat mood despite his side's 2-1 loss at home to Derry City.
Despite a dominant first half display, the champions slumped to their first home defeat in the league for 22 months against last season's runners-up, but the Hoops manager was inclined to treat the result as an imposter.
"I thought we were very good, really good," Bradley told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"It was probably the best we've been either this season or in the last 10 games of last season - domestically I mean.
"We've given up two chances from two mistakes and they've punished us. Sometimes, that's the way it goes.
"But if we perform like that, we'll be right there. We'll be fine. I really liked it - obviously I don't like the mistakes or the result - but really liked large parts of it."
It's the second season in a row that Shamrock Rovers have made a slow-ish start, though they ended up winning the league once again at a canter. While they have again slipped five behind Derry City early, Bradley reminds people that "we've been here before."
"It was strange - the players are disappointed, we're all disappointed with the result. You don't want to get beaten. But if it was a case that we didn't show up, we didn't play, we didn't run, we didn't have energy, you'd be worried. But we had all that.
"The players said it among themselves in there. We've been here before.
"We're very good at reviewing games very quickly and understanding what happened. What was good, what was bad, what we need to improve. We did that after Sligo, after Drogheda and we'll do it tomorrow.
"If we didn't show what we showed tonight, you'd say it was a worry. But I was really, really pleased with tonight. There was so many positive aspects to it. The final bit needs to get there but it will...
The match was decorated by a superb performance from Rovers' languid winger Neil Farrugia, central to much of the hosts' probing in the first half.
"There's not a better winger in the league, full-stop," says Bradley. "I think we've known that for years.
"I think we saw it in the last six months of last year, we saw it in Europe, he was unplayable at times.
"And tonight the poor left back from them (Derry) didn't know what to do with him. He was unplayable.
"But he could beat him at will, inside of outside. He's 6ft 2, he can run like the wind and he can play."
Another positive for Bradley was their still teenage striker Johnny Kenny breaking his duck for the club in his third competitive game, the former Sligo Rovers marksman lashing home a shot to the roof of the net.
"It'll definitely help him. In Drogheda, he could have had a hat-trick. He was disappointed. But you saw his finish tonight. If we create chances, Johnny will score goals, I've no doubt about that.
"The way we play demands a lot of our centre forwards. It's not just about that. He got tired around the 70 minute mark. We just need to keep building him. But you saw tonight, he's going to be such a threat for us and he's going to score a lot of goals."
Asked whether tonight gave indication as to whether Derry were be more formidable title challengers in 2023, Bradley responded curtly: "I don't know. Remember, they were leading by nine points ahead as well last year. Let's see. It's a long season. I think we showed tonight that we were right there, we were very good."
