Shelbourne boss Joey O'Brien took heart from his team having "a right cut off" Qarabag in the second half of Wednesday night's Champions League second-round qualifier, but bemoaned the fact it took 45 minutes for his players to really back themselves at Tolka Park.
The champions of Azerbaijan exhibited plenty of class in a 3-0 victory, effectively killing the tie ahead of the return leg in Baku next Wednesday.
However, Shels had their moments.
Sean Gannon hit the post in the seventh minute, Paddy Barrett clipped the crossbar when it was still only 1-0, while Harry Wood spurned a great opening in an improved second-half showing.
There's no shame in losing to such seasoned European campaigners, and Shels do have the safety net of falling into the Europa League third qualifying round regardless, but O'Brien was adamant they'll go to Baku to put up a fight, and prove they've learned some harsh lessons.
"I thought second half we were the better team," he said.
"We got in their face, we looked stronger and fitter. Again, the lads will learn from it, they see it.
"For me, respect on a football pitch is a fear, you know?
"You're afraid of the mistake, or you're afraid of the outcome of what might happen. I have no time for that.
"I said it to the lads, it’s the way I was as a player and a coach and the way I want to be as a manager.
"I wanted to make sure in the second half, regardless of the result, that we had a right cut off them and I felt for large periods we done that."
Qarabag - still in their pre-season - had some standout performers in Dublin, particularly Emmanuel Addai, Nariman Akhundzade and their captain Abdellah Zoubir, who once played under Pat Fenlon at Hibernian.
O'Brien admitted the pace and precision of their play caught out Shels in the first half.
"It’s quality, you are preparing them," he said.
"You’ve seen the video, you are doing as much as you can, the lads knew what they were playing against. You would have known the style of play.
"Until you get on the pitch, you get so familiar against players in the (League of Ireland) week in, week out, you are coming up against these boys, you never see it until they are on the pitch.
"The level they operate at is higher than our domestic football.
"The touch, the speed. You see that in the first 10, 20 minutes and get a feel for in the game, you realise you can’t make that first pass, or second pass and need to go direct and get down the sides of them, that’s where we got the benefit of that.
"These games, they are so demanding, your fitness level goes up. Your mind, your concentration. It happens because it’s the level you are operating at. It’s sink or swim time.
"We’ve got to learn from the mistakes because there’s another few weeks of this and a huge game coming down the line."
A nasty looking injury to Tyreke Wilson was another dark cloud on a disappointing evening for Shelbourne; the full-back was in a lot of pain after landing awkwardly on his ankle when contesting a challenge.
He'll be assessed today as Shels return to training to try and cook up a plan to trouble Qarabag on their own patch in what is likely to be 30-degree-plus heat.
"It's a great game of football travelling over to a place where it’s difficult to play," O'Brien insisted.
"They are a super team at home. We knew this was our night to have a right good go.
"That’s not to say we are going to go over there and roll over. That’s not football for me, it’s preparing a game plan to go out and attack the game and make an upset again
"The second half, I thought we were really good. If you get 1-1, who knows? The atmosphere is up and stuff like that. We didn’t. This is the level, that’s the standout thing.
"It’s a huge game (in Baku), another game, Champions League round two, second leg away from home, stuff you dream of as a kid.
"I’d love to think (the players) are already thinking about it, and see if they can go over and take learnings from who they were up against and if they were disappointed in their own performance, try and put on a better performance next week."
Watch England v Spain in the Euro 2025 final from 4pm on Sunday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
