Vinny Perth says he will shoulder his share of the blame after his Dundalk side were beaten for the second game running. The 2018 double winners found themselves in arrears at the Showgrounds on Friday night after just 27 seconds, when Romeo Parkes
Vinny Perth says he will shoulder his share of the blame after his Dundalk side were beaten for the second game running. The 2018 double winners found themselves in arrears at the Showgrounds on Friday night after just 27 seconds, when Romeo Parkes gave Sligo Rovers the lead. The Lilywhites pegged Rovers back through a Pat Hoban penalty, but Dante Leverock struck for his second goal of the season before the break. A gap Dundalk were unable to bridge. "It wasn't good enough", Perth confessed. "To be fair, we could have been beaten by more. We can make all the excuses we want but it's just not good enough on the pitch from us. I take responsibility for that. "Sligo were by far the better side and you have to accept that. They out-battled us and that's something in my seven years here I have never seen before and it's hard to take." Perth revealed he had hoped to reach the break on level terms after Kyle Callan-McFadden's handball in the penalty area allowed Hoban slice his spot kick down the middle, past Mitchell Beeney. However, Leverock was alert at the back post to finish off Parkes' nod-on from a David Cawley corner at the end of the opening half. "The penalty gave us a lifeline and we hoped to get to half time level so we could have fixed some things. But once we concede the second we've given them something to hold on to. "You always believe you'll get something when there's a goal in it. I actually thought we were very good and showed a little more hunger in the last fifteen or twenty minutes. But it wasn't to be for us and we'll take that on the chin." The champions host Bohs on Monday night in what will be a huge game for either club. Dundalk's loss in form has seen them slip to fourth, while second placed Bohs will look to keep leaders Shamrock Rovers in sight with a win. "We're in a bad bit of form at the moment but that's the way it goes. We've a game on Monday and that gives us a chance to build blocks towards where we want to be," Perth concluded.
