Kenny disappointed with Oriel performance

Dundalk succumbed to their first defeat of the 2013 Airtricity League season on Tuesday evening 3-1 to champions Sligo Rovers at Oriel Park. Speaking to extratime.ie after the match, manager Stephen Kenny conceded that the performance wasn't good enough but believed a number of factors were at play, although he admitted Sligo Rovers deserved their victory.

"Our performance was nowhere near the performance of Shamrock Rovers or Shelbourne. Our preparation was somewhat hindered but I'm not making excuses because overall we weren't good enough. John Mountney was struck down with a virus and he would have played, also Stephen O'Donnell tweaked his calf in the warm up."

Raffaele Cretaro's 3rd minute strike set the visitors on their way to victory and Kenny felt the early concession was a 'disaster' and lamented not being able to keep it 1-0 at the break.

“Conceding the goal in the first couple of minutes was a disaster from our point of view. I felt if we got in 1-0 at half-time we could re-organise but to concede a goal just before half-time from a set play is unforgivable. Sligo were clinical with their finishing We kept going though, we didn't throw in the towel and Kurtis Byrne got a great goal. He forced a great save from Gary Rogers too and Keith Ward almost pulled one back to make it 3-2 so we kept going and we showed we aren't going to throw in the towel when things don't go our way.”

The 41-year-old admits that the standard set by the opening games has been quite high but he believes his players were nervous and can't understand why.

"It's a disappointing night for us. Maybe I have set the bar too high for some of our play. In the first half, we didn't play as well as we can. I don't know why we didn't react after conceding the goal because after conceding on Friday night against Shelbourne we came back and won 3-1 so I can't put my finger on why we were so edgy in the first half. If we were going to be nervous I would have expected it in the first game against Shamrock Rovers.

"Sligo won well in the end without having to play that well but they have got good players and that's why they're champions."

Despite defeat, the former Derry City boss is content with the Lilywhites tally after the opening three matches however he would rather have more and intended to sit on top of the tree at the end of play last night.

"We looked at the open games and seen that we were playing Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers, Shelbourne and we knew we were up against it. We wanted to get as many points as possible from those three as we could. We have got 4 points which is OK. Before coming into tonight, we could have went top with a win. I know three games in that doesn't really mean anything but confidence wise it would have been a good boost. It's never that simple though.

If Keith Ward's shot had to go in we could have been in for a grandstand finish but it didn't. We could have went 3-0 down and got hammered but we didn't. Sligo are very strong and we have no complaints but we are disappointed nonetheless."