LIAM BUCKLEY saw €300,000 go up in smoke after Sligo Rovers botched their European mission.
Trailing 1-0 on aggregate, the Bit O’Red were in control at the Showgrounds but imploded either side of half-time.
Ex-Dundalk striker Steven Lennon scored both goals to go with his winner in Iceland last week as FH Hafnarfjordur were gifted a second round showdown with Rosenborg.
Johnny Kenny’s late goal only offered the briefest flicker of hope but that too was snuffed out on a dire European night for the hosts.
Buckley sighed: “There was definitely an opportunity here, but the result over there didn’t help us last week. Get out of there 0-0, it might have been a different result here.
“But as I said to the boys, put it down to experience. We have got a young group here. And you need to reflect on these games and we need to get better.
“There are bits and pieces we can do to get better which, please God, we can work on over the next few weeks.
“From a player and performance point of view, we want to do that because we’re at the top end of the league table and we want to stay there.”
But while fuming at the soft nature of the defeat, Buckley refused to put the boot into his dejected players who lacked a clinical edge when it mattered most.
Their frustration was summed up on the whistle when a row broke out between players on both sides, resulting in a shoving match that needed the officials to step in.
“I won’t be overly critical of our guys,” continued the Bit O’Red boss. “In the first half, if we had been 1-0 up or 2-0 up, you would have said ‘That’s fair.’
“The second half, we needed to go out and stay on top and it didn’t transpire as such. That said, we still had chances.
“Seamy Keogh...even if he hit wrong. It just wasn’t our day. We didn’t do enough in the second-half and in the first-half, they scored against the run of play.
“When I reflect back on the game in Iceland, there’s not a lot in it but Greg Bolger's sending off had a big impact in the last few minutes of that.
“We created enough here before they scored and the goals given away are sloppy and it does knock you back. We just have to put it down to experience.”
Sligo Rovers - in a three way tie for top spot in the Premier Division - have to park their frustration and focus again ahead of Sunday’s league encounter in Waterford.
