Damien Duff was full of praise for his Shelbourne side after they dug out an "ugly win" against Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds on Friday night.
Shelbourne were 2-0 up inside 11 minutes thanks to goals from John Martin and Kerr McInroy, with Reece Hutchinson getting one back for the home side before half-time.
Shels held on, but for Duff, this was far from a perfect performance.
"I was really happy at the end because I thought it was an edge to the game all night," he said.
"On the pitch, off the pitch, absolutely fabulous. Here was an out and out football match. Who deserves to win for football and quality? Sligo. We were never at the races really with the ball.
"We got off to a good start, but did we ever keep the ball long enough? Well enough? You work bloody hard. You work for your mate. You believe in something and you can get wins as well that way."
Shels were down to the bare bones with captain Mark Coyle, Lewis Temple and Kameron Ledwidge forming a makeshift back three, but the uglier the better for their manager.
"There's sometimes beauty and ugliness and, you hear it a lot of in football circles, the ugly ones are the are the best. I'm not getting carried away. I'll watch it back on the bus on the way home and I'll be probably watching it behind my hands, because with the ball we were off.
"I hate ugly football. I love ugly wins, and that was one hell of an ugly win," he said.
For Bit O'Red boss John Russell, it's quite the opposite.
Cian Kavanagh’s red card in the second half, as well as captain John Mahon and Jad Hakiki picking up their fifth bookings of the season, mean Rovers will be short on numbers travelling to Bohemians this week, with Jake-Doyle Hayes and Conor Reynolds still serving red-card suspensions.
"It's three red cards and seven games for us as well," said Russell. "And you know, look at Jad Hakiki. He's at five yellows, he's an attacking midfielder. How he picks up five yellows in seven games is mind blowing from some of the decisions are going against us from the referees.
"John (Mahon), he's a centre-back. He's tough as nails. He's putting in tackles and headers, I understand that. But for Jad, I mean, come on. And then the red card tonight for Cian (Kavanagh), taking a shot on goal and against maximum punishment. And it's hugely frustrating."
Russell remains confident that Sligo Rovers can turn their season around as they find themselves bottom of the table after seven games.
"It's a brand new group and we've been playing well. If we keep doing that and cut out the individual errors, we're going to get points, we're going to get wins on the board. We just have to stay calm, keep working hard, keep believe what we're doing."
