Devine - We let the penalty decision affect us

Derry City’s ten game unbeaten run came to an end on Monday evening as they were put to the sword by Sligo Rovers. The 3-0 defeat at the hands of the champions also saw them lose their spot at the top of the Airtricity Premier Division, much to the disappointment of manager Declan Devine.

Both sides had their chances early on, and Sligo were made to work for their lead which they took n the 38^th minute thanks to Lee Lynch. Devine was frustrated with a number of decisions in the game.

“I’m disappointed obviously. I felt there were a few big decisions in the game, and they obviously haven’t gone our way. I felt at half-time that we had played quite well in the first-half and we had a few chances in the match. But, it’s very disappointing to lose it.

Barry McNamee went down in the Sligo box on 20 minutes and was booked for stimulation, despite the strong protests from the Derry camp. Devine felt that the referee’s decision not to award the penalty played on their minds.

“I thought it was a definite penalty. It more a clear-cut penalty than the one that Sligo got in their favour. We haven’t got it, we move on. I think there were big decisions in the game that just didn’t go for us.

“I felt we let the decision in not getting the penalty affect us and it’s certainly cost us in the long term.”

The Candystripes were reduced to ten men late on when Shane McEleney was sent for an early shower for bringing down David Cawley in the Derry box. The former Glentoran man felt aggrieved about the red card shown to the 22-year-old.

“I think it was very harsh. The player is saying he got the ball. I’ll have a look at it later on. If that’s a sending off then the first one that we didn’t get is obviously the same.”

Ruaidhri Higgins was ruled out just before the game through injury, and his absence was a notable one.

“He’s a huge loss. He’s had a very good season, he’s been playing very well. For him to miss out through injury today was very disappointing for us”, said Devine.