Devlin: We didn't deserve to lose three nil

A three-nil win for Sligo Rovers against Bray on Saturday night saw them move to the top of the table, but Bray’s director of football Pat Devlin felt that the score-line was very harsh on the Seagulls.

Speaking to Extratime.ie  Devlin’s sense of dissatisfaction was clear to see: “I’m disappointed we didn’t get something out of it. I mean they (Sligo) certainly weren’t worth the three nil but that’s football. We went down to ten men so we were a bit exposed. We pushed on and tried to get the equaliser as well but the boys didn’t deserve to be beaten three nil.”

Although they struggled to threaten in the first-half, Devlin’s side showed more urgency when they emerged for the second-half. They came close on several occasions, but failed to beat Gary Rogers in the Sligo goal. A clash of heads between Evan McMillan and Ismahil Akinade saw the Bray man taken off, and with all three substitutions made, they had to finish with ten men.

“I think Gary Rogers did very well for them. That’s what he’s there for. We didn’t play that well in the first half. We played a little bit better in the second-half, certainly should have got something out of it though.”

Their best opportunity of the game was arguably a well taken free-kick by Gary Dempsey in the 77^th minute, which forced Rogers into a fine save. Once again, Devlin re-iterated his disappointment with the result: “Gary Dempsey did come close but three nil is a bit of a killer. Certainly didn’t deserve that.”

Although extremely frustrated with the result, he was positive that his side will improve: “We made three changes thinking it would change our luck. But that didn’t happen. The majority of their players have a lot of games under their belt compared to us. We can only get better.”