Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley felt his side were deserving winners against Shelbourne on Friday evening, stating that they possessed a measure of control in their SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division clash at Tolka Park.
The Hoops ran out 2-1 winners at the Drumcondra venue to solidify their place at the top of the table, an outcome that now leaves 12 points between the Hoops and last season's title winners.
For Bradley it was a case of a job well done, when he spoke to RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after the game.
He said: "I think it was an important game for us, we know that, a Dublin derby after the break. To be fair from the first minute to the last I thought we controlled the game and deservedly won the game."
Bradley singled out a few of his side for praise afterwards, describing Lee Grace as one "of the best centre-backs in the country" following his introduction for the injured Adam Matthews early on.
On Jack Byrne's contribution at Tolka, he added: "They tried to man-mark Jack but I thought he was very clever in how he played that. His set-piece deliveries were top class. He was really clever tonight even though he didn't influence the game in his normal way but he influenced it in another way."
It was an eventful night for Josh Honohan, who in the last week was part of the Republic of Ireland senior squad for their two friendlies. After putting through his own net to draw Shelbourne level in the first half, the Carrigaline native was on hand to drill home the Hoops' winner with six minutes to go.
Publicly criticised by his manager in the wake of the draw with Galway United a fortnight ago, Bradley was, on this occasion, delighted with how the player responded after his own goal.
"Josh has been influence for us since we got him. I'm Josh's biggest fan He had a difficult moment against Galway but that's OK. Josh has high standards and we have high standards set for him. He understands that. We love Josh and he's a top player. He responded well after the OG."
Bradley was asked about the growing needle between himself and Shelbourne boss Damien Duff, this despite a handshake between the par both before and after the Tolka meeting.
He wasn't prepared to go into it in any great detail, when saying: "Look, we've won the game. They lost and I understand you can feel like that when you've lost. We move on, we won the game."
Duff was also asked for his view post-match on whether he feels there is a lack of respect shown towards him. He replied: "A discussion for another day. I will assess myself. Have I picked the right team? I picked up another yellow card tonight. As long as the people around me love and respect me, anyone outside of that circle is irrelevant."
As to events on the pitch, the Shels boss cut a somewhat frustrated figure with his assessment.
"I think we could have been better on the ball," was his summation.
"I can't argue with the result because if you give away goals like that you haven't got a leg to stand on. We do so much work in her defensive set up and so to give way the two goals that we did tonight was bitterly disappointing.
"With the ball we had a little burst in the first half and a proper burst in the second half after their goal. Harry Wood ignited us to a point but we could have shown more personality with the ball, if that makes sense."
Shelbourne will soon be in European action, in the shape of Champions League qualifiers, but Duff was keen to prioritise domestic duties.
"The league is your bread and butter. I get screenshots of who we can get but it's all irrelevant to me. Granted it exciting for the club and for the league but the league games are your most important."
