Saints boss left disappointed

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An injury-time goal from Drogheda United inflicted a first Premier Division defeat of the season on St Patrick's Athletic and their manager Pete Mahon was less than pleased afterwards.

The Inchicore outfit went into Friday's clash as league leaders, but lost their unbeaten record after Eoghan Osbourne curled in a superb free-kick with seconds left to play.

That was a cruel blow for Mahon's side as they had the better chances throughout the game, although the Saints boss was not happy at all with how his players performed.

"I’m bitterly disappointed with the manner of the defeat. The same thing happened up in Linfield in the Setanta Sports Cup. It was a terrible game and we didn’t play well," said Mahon.

"At the same time I didn’t think we deserved to lose the match either. We had some good chances in the second-half, but the goal killed us at the end coming when it did. So we’ll take it on the chin and move on.

"We never really had any sustained passing and moving in the game – it was in bits and pieces. It took us 35 minutes to get going in the game, except for one move we had where Brian Cash shot over. We were too slow starting the game."

The Saints have played a lot of football already this season as Setanta Sports Cup and Leinster Senior Cup games have been sandwiched in between league fixtures.

Mahon isn't sure if all of those games so early in the season played a part in his team losing on Friday, but he has been generally pleased with their start to the campaign.

"I don’t know whether it was a kick back from the Bohemians game, where we put so much effort into it," he said.

"It is hard to put my finger on it, but overall we were kind of sluggish and a second late to everything – especially in the first 35 minutes. But’s that football.

"I wasn’t getting carried away when we won a few games and had three good results in our last three games even though they were draws – away to Dundalk, away to Bohemians and home to Sporting Fingal. But that’s the thing about football, it sets you back."