‘ We had nothing to lose and everything to gain’

SLIGO Rovers manager Dave Robertson insisted that his side did not drop three points against Derry City at The Brandywell on Friday night.

Rovers were leading 1- 0 at half- time, but were beaten twice by Kenny Shiels’ side who persevered to take all three points.

But Robertson insisted that there were plenty of positives for him.

“No it’s not three points dropped. Whenever you come to The Brandywell or they come to The Showgrounds it’s always a good football match. In terms of our game plan in the first half, we worked really well. The players stuck to it, they were strong. We had a great opportunity after five minutes, Phil Roberts was magnificent, unfortunately it just comes off the underside of the crossbar. On 21 minutes I thought it was a stonewall penalty. We’ve had a look back at it and my opinion it’s a stonewall penalty. It’s not given and you have to move on. Then on the stroke of half- time we score a good goal and Pat McCann takes it really well on the edge of the box following a corner. It’s a great time to score.

“We had nothing to lose and everything to gain. We were fighting to keep the dream alive for fourth place and I know speaking to Kenny that they were chasing to consolidate that third place that he really wanted for himself and the football club. We knew that they were going to take more risks in the second half and they did. The first goal, I have to hold my hands up. McEneff scores a fantastic goal. Sometimes as a manager you have to give credit to them. The second goal I’m more disappointed with. The right midfielder lets the full- back run off his shoulder, we then turn the ball over, find him with a pass and we then give it away again.

“And they go through and score. We had opportunities to build in the second half. I’m disappointed because of the nature of it. We took more risks in the last few minutes and Peers went up front so we went to three at the back and three up front. In a normal league game we’d probably be more patient but with so much at stake, I felt it was a gamble worth taking. There are plenty of positives. I said to the players at the end that they’ve done what this club employed them to do at the beginning of this year, to get the group together to build the foundation to really kick on next year. We’ve still got a lot to play for next week against Wexford, to make sure that we consolidate that fifth place.

“We’re professionals. I’m disappointed, the players are disappointed. Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture, we’ll reflect on it on Monday.”

A string of excellent stops from Ciaran Nugent made life difficult for Derry, and Robertson praised the American.

“He was fantastic. He’s done really well. I think any manager in the league would love to have him as their number two goalkeeper. He’s pushing Schlings. It’s going to be really interesting next season to see the two of them and how competitive they will be to try and push each other to be better. As a manager I know for sure that I can trust both of them.”

There were plaudits, too, for John Russell who was replaced after 75 minutes as he struggled with an injury.

“Obviously Russell has played through an injury. We’ve given him painkillers. He took a real heavy knock against Dundalk. Real bad bruising, he’s in real pain. But that sums Russell up. He’ll run through a brick wall for the team, he’ll run through a brick wall for the football team. He’s run through a brick wall for me as a manager. I wanted Russell on the pitch because with some of our senior boys out, him and Gavin Peers know how much it means to the football club.”