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Duff looking for 'reset button' after first league defeat

Shelbourne manager Damien Duff is looking for a reaction from his side
Shelbourne manager Damien Duff is looking for a reaction from his side

Shelbourne manager Damien Duff says that his side have to hit the reset button after they suffered their first league defeat of the season.

Duff's side went down 2-1 to local rivals Bohemians at Tolka Park in a game in which they looked to be in control of for long periods.

A first-half Jordan Flores brace proved enough in the end to earn bragging rights in a feisty north Dublin derby, with Will Jarvis setting up a tension-filled finale with a second-half penalty.

Flores’ goals came against the run of play in a first half Shelbourne dominated but while Duff was disappointed with the result, he’s not panicking just yet.

"It’s just reset buttons," he told RTÉ Sport. "[We hit] a reset button at half-time and we came out and played well again.

"I thought we were the better team, I don’t think we deserved to lose the game, I think they’ve done a job on us.

"There was a long clearance, we haven’t dealt with it and that’s a poor goal to give away. We got too emotional, lost our calm and obviously we give away the set-piece again straight after.

"I thought we lost our calm after we scored our goal, we still had half an hour left, 25 minutes. But I couldn’t be prouder of the lads and we go again."

At times Shelbourne looked to struggle to get to grips with the playing surface at Tolka Park, which again seemed to cut up as the game progressed.

Duff has previously lamented the state of pitches in the league and a wet April certainly hasn’t helped things, but he refused the blame the defeat on the conditions.

"It obviously better than a couple of weeks ago, it’s no excuse, it’s the same for both teams," he said.

"Like I said, for large spells of the game I thought we were the better team, they’ve done a job on us, so hats off to them."

Meanwhile, Bohemians manager Alan Reynolds believes that he’s already getting a response from his players after taking charge of the Dublin club just three weeks ago.

"We had a week to work with the fellas and I think you could see the improvements," he said. "Saying that, the first 20 minutes they came out of the blocks and we struggled but after that we adapted.

"I’m delighted for players and they effort they put in but it’s a start for us."

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