Drogheda manager Kevin Doherty was left bemused by the "ridiculous" criticism that came his side's way in recent weeks as they returned to the top of the SSE Airtricity Premier Division table following a dramatic 3-2 win over Cork City.
The Louth side entered the clash on a winless run of four games, with the side surrendering a two-goal lead to draw in Sligo on Friday.
It looked like two more points would be dropped on Monday as Djenairo Daniels struck for Tim Clancy's team either side of goals from Shane Farrell and Warren Davis, but there was drama right at the death as Ryan Brennan struck a match-winning penalty in the 96th minute.
"The amount of people questioning because we drew a game away to Sligo the other night was ridiculous," said Doherty, who was without the injured Luke Dennison, Darragh Markey and Paul Doyle at Sullivan and Lambe Park.
"Every single pundit, every single bookie, every single supporter outside of ours had us tenth in the league.
"Now we're a long way from anything yet but the best teams in the world concede goals and don’t win every single game, but some of the stuff you hear is ridiculous."
The win may have come in dramatic circumstances, but Doherty felt it was totally deserved.
"I thought we were the better team by a good bit. Cork are obviously really well coached by Tim and they carried a threat.
"We got 2-1 up with an excellent goal, a really well-worked goal, but then to concede the way that we did was hard to watch to be honest."
Doherty had special praise for Brennan, who emphatically slammed home the penalty to spark a pitch invasion, with St Pat’s loss to Derry later on Monday ensuring Drogheda would maintain top spot at the end of the bank holiday weekend.
Back in March, the side were handed a penalty at the death against Shamrock Rovers but Farrell’s spot-kick was saved by Ed McGinty in a 2-1 defeat.
"We had a similar incident earlier in the season, we got a 96th-minute penalty against Shamrock Rovers and Ryan wasn’t on the pitch.
"I had no doubt with Ryan. He's just a class act, a class captain."
For Cork boss Clancy, Drogheda’s late goal just put the seal on what had been a tough night for him watching on.
"It was a horrible game, there wasn’t much football played to be honest."
"We speak all week that it’s not the first ball, it’s the second ball and none of the line drop for the second ball and it results in the penalty and they win the game," he added of Drogheda’s late winner.
Brennan's late strike prevented Cork from extending their unbeaten run to four league games, and Clancy said it was to be somewhat expected given their missing list.
"Look, we’re reliant on a load of kids at the minute, we’re missing a lot of experienced players that make a lot of difference - 'Keatsy' (Ruairí Keating), Malik (Dijksteel), Seani (Maguire), you’ve Greg Bolger, Benny Couto as well.
"A load of injuries, suspensions with Josh (Fitzpatrick), and you could see that in the second game in three days. The inexperience in important moments is costing us."
Meanwhile, Clancy had no further information on the future of 18-year-old Cathal O’Sullivan, who has been linked with a summer transfer to Premier League side Nottingham Forest.
"Cathal’s an exceptionally good player, as long as he’s here he’ll be looked after.
"We'd love to keep him for as long as possible, we’ll see when the next window comes."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
