No half measures for Duff who rues first 45 minutes that ‘cost us the game’ on night he said ended by being struck by coin

Macdara Ferris reports from Dalymount Park

It was a deeply disappointed Damien Duff who spoke in Dalymount Park after his team’s 1-0 Dublin Derby FAI Cup defeat to Bohemians on Friday night.

Duff talked about the Shels v Bohs rivalry ahead of the game but it was a rivalry that did appear to go over the edge at the conclusion of the match. Duff claimed he was struck with a coin when walking to the dressing room after the final whistle and it left him feeling undervalued.

“I contemplated wearing a cap tonight as things have been thrown at me before. I want to keep my two eyes. What can you do? It was a euro, they didn't even throw €2 at me.”

Reflecting on the match Duff said: “The first half cost us the game.

“I said yesterday we have to start quick in any game but we left 45 minutes behind. If you don't start games properly, you always have an uphill battle and that is what happened.”

Shels came into the match unbeaten against Bohs in five league and FAI cup matches but the Gypsies dominated the first half, scoring from one of the nine corner kicks they had in the opening period.

“They had set pieces and we needed to soak it up. It would have been great if we could have got through to half time and we didn't. We were a different team in the second half but you are chasing your tail.”

Shels were routed in last season’s FAI Cup final by Derry City and, while their performance wasn’t as poor in Dalymount, Duff had strong words for his squad.

“Too many times I've criticised the guys in there and if I can aim one thing at them over the 18 months, yeah I love them, yeah I love working with them, but too many times they left minutes, moments or halves of football behind - especially halves of football.

“I can't contemplate or understand that, as for me that just comes down to mentality. You can't come to Dalymount and expect against Bohs it is going to be a nice football game, and that they'll roll over. They won't.

“Our group is one that maybe I struggle with at times but they'll be devastated as they left a half behind and it has cost us.”

The Reds should have been awarded a first half penalty after James McManus handled the ball basketball style in the Bohs box but referee Paul McLaughlin, who Duff has some history with, allowed the play to go on.

“In the first half that was an absolute stonewall penalty. They (the match officials) are telling me that his hand was down by his side but it is right at a 90 degree angle and is right in front of me. That is really disappointing. Sometimes you wonder are their mikes working and are they speaking to each other. It was blatant for all to see.

“What grates me is not Paul - I think that’s the name of the referee and I should know his name as he sent me off last season (against Dundalk), I'm an innocent man I did nothing - that is not what I'm angry about but our first half of football.”

Duff is a driven manager working for new owners who have high ambitions for the club including European qualification. However, now out of the cup, Shels sit sixth in the table four points off fourth placed Bohemians.

That spot currently occupied by the Gypsies is only good enough for European football if one of the top three win the FAI Cup. Derry City are in third eight points ahead of Shels who do have a game in hand on the Candystripes.

“We openly speak about Europe as that is where we want to go, where I want to bring the club. It is a route that is gone, it is only through the league now.”

FAI Cup Report: Bohemians 1 - 0 Shelbourne https://t.co/qDB4MTR4Crpic.twitter.com/y84BXp3UtA

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