St Patrick’s Athletic boss Tim Clancy says his team need to learn how to grind out results if they’re to compete in the league this season.
The Athletic fell to their fourth defeat of the season at Shamrock Rovers on Friday night in front of a sold-out 7,424 crowd.
Rory Gaffney’s header six minutes after half time proved the difference after the Saints had got the better of the first half in Tallaght without truly threatening the home side’s goal.
Alan Mannus’ save from Billy King’s low shot on the half-hour was as good as it got for Clancy’s men, who didn’t trouble the goal after going behind.
“We know Rovers are going to have a lot of possession and work overloads in the right areas but I think the two best chances in the first half have come to us,” Clancy said.
“Darragh [Burns] breaking for the second one and Billy cuts inside and gets a shot on target, and Alan Mannus makes a save and it nearly breaks to Darragh and Eoin Doyle coming in.
“That was pleasing in the first half. Second half, we conceded so early. The first real ball into the box that Tom [Grivosti] and Joe [Redmond] haven’t dealt with.
“It’s the first goal, it gave them a foothold in the game and then you’re chasing the game down and it’s a little bit difficult.”
Despite ending the game with four strikers, Pats struggled to keep their foot on the ball and create.
In Mark Doyle, Tunde Owolabi and Rónán Coughlan, Clancy had some of the best attacking talent in the league to call on from the bench.
He brought all three on, to join Darragh Burns and, before he was taken off, Eoin Doyle, but it did little to change the flow of the game.
He said: “You may as well lose 6-0 as 1-0, you get the same amount of points. We want to win every game you play.
“Tonight we didn’t deserve anything out of the game and we’ve not had it this season where we haven’t got a result we didn’t deserve.
“We have to start doing that as well, grinding results and points out that we probably don’t deserve. That will start when we start putting the ball into the box.”
Ahead of Monday night’s visit to bottom-placed UCD - who lost to Clancy’s former club Drogheda United on Friday - Clancy said changes will be minimal.
“We can make changes, but nothing drastic. We were beaten by a team that’s got a squad that is absolutely the best squad in the country by a distance, I think.
“They’ve won the league the last two years at an absolute canter. We lose the game 1-0 and all of a sudden it’s like, let’s make changes and see how it is?
“It’s not the case that we’re going to be a million miles off. It’s very frustrating. I’m not happy at all with the result and the second half, but that probably comes from conceding the first goal so early and the game changes.”
