Derry City boss Ruaidhrí Higgins was disappointed his side conceded late on in their 2-2 with Shamrock Rovers, while frustration in not kicking on after opening the scoring was Hoops boss Stephen Bradley's main takeaway from the Tallaght Stadium encounter.
It was an eventful evening in Dublin 24, with a stoppage-time header from Markus Poom ensuring a share of the spoils for the champions. This after a Patrick Hoban penalty and a bundled effort from Danny Mullen had put the visitors in front. A positive response to Darragh Burns firing the Hoops in front on the hour.
Derry were seconds away from a third win on the trot. On what could have been for the Candystripes, their manager told reporters afterwards: "When you go a goal behind in Tallaght you would probably accept a point at that stage but when you get yourself 2-1 in front, with real bravery and courage in our play going into injury time, you're then extremely disappointed that we haven't left with the three points.
"We had two days to prepare for the game and we showed real guts and a response to going a goal behind. I'm just bitterly disappointed for the effort the players have put in that they didn't come away with the three points."
When asked to assess the game as a whole and whether a draw was probably a fair outcome, Higgins replied "possibly", though the feeling that two points were left behind still rankled somewhat.
"When you're 2-1 up going into injury time you want the three points. Over the course of the game we had our chances, they had chances. Normally if you leave Tallaght with a point it doesn't feel like a disaster but tonight leading so late it does a wee bit."
Derry were without Will Patching for Monday's encounter; the Scottish-born midfielder "pulled up in the warm-up", Higgins revealed afterwards. Another injury blow to deal with, but the manager was pleased with the way his troops have adapted.
"Obviously four midfield players are now not available but I thought Jordan [McEneff] and Adam [O'Reilly] dealt with that area of the pitch very well. To be fair, Rovers have their injuries as well, so both clubs are suffering a wee bit in that regard. The lads adapted well, I thought."
Shamrock Rovers are still waiting for a first win of the season, though Stephen Bradley also felt that maximum points should have been in their possession after they hit the front. The manager was clearly unhappy at their failure to kick on, when saying: "I think we should have won the game, other than after we scored we left in the game for 15, 20 minutes, we came off it.
"That's not the mindset we want or are used to - we usually attack the game. Obviously 2-1 down late on you would take the point, but when you look at the game as a whole you're disappointed we don't win it. For some reason after we scored we came off it and that was the bit of the performance I didn't like.
"When we scored the mentality changed. That's not like us. Usually when we score we go again and punish teams. We had a breather and came off the game. We stopped going through the thirds and stopped making our angles, which was causing all sorts of problems."
Asked about Derry's title credentials this season, Bradley, expects the back-to-back runners-up to be "there or thereabouts again", adding: "They are obviously a good team, there is no doubt about that and they have invested heavily in the last two years in their squad. They have league winners in their squad.
"You can't look past Shelbourne at the moment. We know what we need to do and what we'll have to do long-term to be in that mix. You'd imagine [Derry] will be up there."
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