If you told Sligo Rovers manager John Russell prior to kick-off that his side would leave the Brandywell with a point after finishing their Premier Division game against Derry City with 10 men, you'd fancy he'd have regarded that as at least a satisfactory outcome. However, Russell insisted that the encounter was one his side could and should have won.
Connor Malley's spectacular 34th-minute opener for the Bit O'Red was cancelled out when his team-mate Reece Hutchinson misdirected a clearance into his own net eight minutes after the restart in the 1-1 draw.
Two bookings for Luke Pearce inside 15 minutes left Sligo with 10 men with more than 15 minutes to play, but the visitors remained bold in their attacking approach and Russell felt a point was ultimately an underwhelming return for their efforts.
"Disappointed to be coming down the road with a point," he told RTÉ Sport in his post-match interview. "I thought we played really well tonight in and out of possession, took the game to Derry, an outstanding goal from Connor Malley and I thought we controlled the game for large parts.
"Second half, disappointed to go down to 10 men, I thought Luke Pearce had to go for the ball. It was there to be won.
"But even with 10 men I thought we were so dangerous on the transition.
"We'd really good opportunities to get that second goal and win the game and I couldn't be prouder of the players and the performance they put in tonight.
"Nobody gave us a chance coming up here tonight. It was all about Derry and they have to get the points to win the league. We're just disappointed that we didn't close the gap."
Russell reserved special praise for goalscorer Malley and Arsenal loanee Jack Henry-Francis, who scooped the man-of-the-match award, saying: "We've got some of the most talented players in the league. Young players that are going to get better and better.
"Jack was outstanding tonight. Him and Connor controlled the game. I'm delighted for Jack because I thought he was outstanding against Shels the last game and didn't get the recognition.
"I'm proud of the performance. To go down to 10 men with 10 or 15 minutes to go, and Derry throwing everything at us, and we still looked that we were going to win the game, but we have to move on and try and get three points next week.
Sligo find themselves sixth in the table, but only six points behind league leaders Shelbourne. The congested nature of the top flight means securing European football next season is still possible, but the 39-year-old is keenly aware of how a victory would have aided that quest.
"We knew the importance of getting three points tonight and I felt we deserved it. But that's football sometimes," he concluded.
Sligo midfielder Jack Henry-Francis, who is on loan from Arsenal, scoops the player-of-the-match accolade.
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The frenetic nature of the affair after the dismissal made an impression on Henry-Francis.
"I thought we were on top in the first half," he said. "And a wonderstrike from Connor Malley put us 1-0 up.
"We were on top of them in the first half. We came out in the second half, guns blazing, had a good start to the second half and then the red card killed us a little bit, we lost momentum.
"Then it was basketball - us and them, us and them."
Henry-Francis, who turned 21 last month, indicated that Gunners manager Mikel Arteta was monitoring his progress and said of his Sligo experience: "I've really enjoyed it, coming into a men's environment for the first time and getting my games in."
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