Scott Irvine felt Carrick Rangers were hard done by as they slipped to a narrow defeat at home to league leaders Larne.
Paul O'Neill came off the bench to put the visitors ahead with a quickfire brace after Kyle Cherry had cancelled out Andy Ryan's opener after an hour at Taylors Avenue.
Cherry netted a second from the spot in additional time as Cian Bolger saw red for a hand ball on the line but the hosts could not muster an equaliser.
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Assistant boss Irvine though felt his charges had the points "stolen" away from them.
"I think Larne have stolen three points, I'll be honest,” he told the club’s Youtube channel.
“I don't think there was a massive difference in the two teams.
"It shows how far our lads have come and how competitive we are, especially here. I think if I'm in the Larne changing room I'm over the moon going up the road with three points because it was fine margins.
"They’ll continue to fight and that has been apparent. We can't question the players.
"We asked them for honesty, attitude, commitment - every one of them ticks those boxes. There's no question of the desire to fight for each other."
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