Bohemians boss Alan Reynolds believes shipping two late goals in his side's Dublin derby win over bitter rivals Shamrock Rovers could prove a blessing in disguise for his league leaders.
The Gypsies now top the table by three points after their 3-2 win at Dalymount Park and the home side looked set to extend their record of clean sheets in the league to four games until Pico Lopes and Aaron Greene scored in stoppage time.
Bohemians dominated for large spells, with Connor Parsons opening the scoring in the 26th minute before the excellent Colm Whelan doubled their advantage from the penalty spot in the 56th minute.
Ross Tierney got the goal his performance deserved in the 87th minute, seemingly wrapping up the scoring in the eyes of most observers until that uncharacteristic late wobble.
"For 90 minutes, we were very good," Reynolds told RTÉ Sport after the final whistle. "We did our work in the first half and they're a good team.
"To adapt and be at our best to beat them – I thought they didn't try and play out, they were more direct.
"I thought we were excellent, got to grips with them, and scored a good goal in the first half.
"I suppose the disappointing thing is that we could have been more clinical in the second half and gone and scored a couple more, but then, you look at the last five minutes and it was backs against the wall and you're under pressure."
The mean Bohemians defence exhibited an altruism to their opponents at the death that could raise some alarm bells moving forward.
However, their manager believes the late scare should serve to ward off any complacency in the camp.
"We're really disappointed about that, because with 90 minutes gone we were looking at another clean sheet," Reynolds said.
"It'll keep fellas on the ground, that's for sure. We definitely won't be getting carried away and we'll get back in and get back to work tomorrow."
It's rather early to be making appraisals of the season to date, but Reynolds opined that the signs are positive and that plenty of room for improvement remains, particularly when spring finally arrives in earnest.
"We're very pleased with the points total," he said of the campaign to date. "In the first game we played, the performance wasn't great, but I feel the first quarter of games is chaos.
"The pitches aren't great and it'll settle down and get better, and we'll get better when the pitches get better.
"We're pleased, but there's loads to do."
Opposite number Stephen Bradley was somewhat subdued and tight-lipped in his post-match interview.
"Some of it was good, some of it was not so good," Bradley stated. "Small moments went against us."
"We pressed, but for the third goal, Adam [Brennan] is in their box about to shoot and slips on the ball. We make a defensive error and it ends up in the back of our net.
"They're the small moments."
