Stephen O’Donnell said he had no complaints about Friday night’s 3-2 defeat to UCD at the Bowl.
Dundalk made the trip to the capital looking to move level on points with league leaders Shamrock Rovers but despite going ahead on two occasions, they were pegged back by Andy Myler’s side.
Dylan Duffy made it 2-2 with 11 minutes to play and Tommy Lonergan delivered the hammer blow with an 87th-minute winner that lifted the Students off the bottom of the table.
The loss, Dundalk’s first at Belfield since 2011, leaves the Lilywhites just two points ahead of fourth-placed St Patrick’s Athletic, who have a game in hand, and speaking to the media afterwards, O’Donnell admitted that his players were going through a testing period.
On the mood in the dressing room…
“Everyone is very disappointed. I didn’t think we played well. We lacked energy and an injection of legs all over the park right from the get-go which is something we’ll review but there is no other word to describe it than disappointing.”
Nathan Shepperd, pictured after Dundalk’s defeat to UCD. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
On losing the lead twice…
“When you take the lead you expect to kick on and win the game but I never felt we were fully comfortable in the game. For their three goals, we were in possession of the ball and they turned us over and scored. Ultimately, we only have ourselves to blame. I don’t think we were good enough throughout the 90 minutes and we were punished.”
On Dundalk’s recent form…
“We’re facing a bit of adversity now. Seasons bring that and it’s how you respond to it. We will take stock and how we react to it will show our character and personality. It’ll be a miserable weekend but we’ll review things and get prepared for the FAI Cup quarter-final with Waterford next Friday.”
On the trip to Waterford…
“It will be a tough game. Individually, they have Premier Division calibre players so it will be a tough game and it will be a great atmosphere but we want to get the Aviva and it’s a game we’ll be looking forward to.”
