Derry City manager Ruaidhri Higgins says his team “missed another big opportunity” to take control of the Irish Premier Division title race in Monday’s 1-1 draw with Sligo Rovers at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.
A win would have taken the Candystripes top of the table and left the destiny of the League of Ireland championship chase in their own hands with three rounds of matches still to be played.
Connor Malley’s stunning strike put Sligo ahead against an under-par Derry on 34 minutes, the home side’s performance prompting boos from a section of the home support as the players came off at half-time.
A Reece Hutchinson own goal drew the hosts level but despite Sligo having Luke Pearce sent-off for a second yellow card offence 15 minutes from time, Higgins’ side could not conjure up a winner.
“Extremely disappointed. The first half performance baffled me. It’s not acceptable,” said Higgins.
“It’s a really poor performance, considering what we have to fight for and what we have to play for. We had the opportunity to take control of the league table but we haven’t done it.
“We were second to every second ball, we lacked energy and we were chasing our tails from then on.
Boos ‘absolutely justified’
Higgins acknowledged that the booing of his players from some home fans at half-time was justified and reflected on his team selection for the game.
“Should I have made changes from Friday night [a 1-1 home draw with Bohemians] to freshen the team up? Probably, in hindsight. You always have to self-reflect. You have to look at yourself.
“The boos were absolutely justified. Of course they were. The minimum requirement that supporters want to see is players fighting for their club and we didn’t do that in the first half.
“It has happened too many times and we have missed another big opportunity.”
Derry sit two points behind leaders Shelbourne in the standings, level on points with Shamrock Rovers and two points ahead of St Patrick’s Athletic and Galway United.
Higgins’ charges have won one, drawn five and lost three of their last nine league outings, accumulating just eight points out of a possible 27, and are winless in their last five.
The Brandywell club face away trips to Dundalk and St Pat’s in their next two games, followed by a concluding and potentially decisive home game against Shels.
“It’s a hard one to take but what do you do? You’ve got to keep going, keep fighting, and certainly show more fight than what we did in the first half,” added Higgins.
“It’s been an awful long time since the club won the league. We were and still are in the best position we have been in for a long time in terms of trying to win one so that will be our focus.
“We’ll probably have to win all three games I would imagine now to win it.”