Devine taking the positives from draw

AFTER seeing his side play out a 1-1 draw with Dundalk at Oriel Park on Friday night, Derry City manager Declan Devine admitted he was disappointed that they couldn't hold on to the three points but was happy with his sides display and bemoaned the concession of the late goal.

"Disappointed and pleased. Pleased that we played very well on the night. We kept possession of the ball on a very difficult surface. I felt we bossed the game for long periods. Disappointed we didn't take more chances, we created a lot and even hit the post three times I think. Very disappointed with the goal we gave away. We scored a fantastically good goal but we can't afford to switch off and lose concentration like we did tonight. It was late in the game and we should never have given it away."

Devine also laid claim that it was the Foylesider's best performance of the season but was frustrated that they seem to play well but not win these days.

"I think it could be our best performance but we have had some other great games too. We played very well for a lot of the match tonight but didn't kill them off. Let's not forget that we went to Tallaght and beat Shamrock Rovers 3-0 in the Setanta Cup, we beat Linfield 3-1 in the Brandywell and drew 1-1 at Windsor Park, we've played a lot of games and had some good performances in those.

"The reality of it is, we have played very well tonight and only come away with a point. That has happened a lot this season, we don't seem to be ruthless enough but we have played well and lost this season too so a point isn't all bad."
 

Dundalk looked to have taken the lead when Robert Waters' header was excellently saved by Gerard Doherty, some even thinking it had crossed the line. The Derryman was sure that it wasn't a goal.
 

"I thought it was an excellent save by Ger (Doherty). It was a fantastic header and we defended the corner poorly but it was a great save. From my view it wasn't in, the players reaction say a lot and they didn't really argue so I think don't think so."
 

Devine went on to speak about the rest of the season and what he felt his side can achieve. He feels that if performances stay the same they can challenge for a European place.
 

"We have games coming up that we need to get points out of. We have players coming back and we hope to get our full squad out in the next few weeks. We are taking each match as it comes but our aim is to qualify for Europe, we'll see though. Our main focus is Shamrock Rovers next Friday. It'll be a big game for us both but we have to take each week at a time and see how it goes."