Livid Stephen Bradley slammed Shamrock Rovers’ naivety after gift-wrapping their Champions League tie for Ludogorets.
The Hoops were outclassed in Bulgaria against the serial group stage competitors, yet the door was left ajar at 2-0 deep in injury-time.
In the 94th minute, Rovers self-destructed when trying to play out from the back rather than clearing the danger.
READ MORE: Tough night for Rovers as Champions League hopes suffer in Bulgaria
A Lee Grace ball was intercepted and although Alan Mannus made a good save initially, the ball fell to Igor Thiago and his fierce shot deflected off Sean Hoare.
And an irate Hoare showed his clear frustration on the final whistle by ripping his jersey.
The goal was a killer blow that leaves Rovers almost down and out in the Champions League - although they have the Europa League safety net if they crash in Tallaght.
Bradley fumed: “It's almost impossible really. It's 3-0 and they are a very good side. 2-0 is a different game and we have been there before with Slovan Bratislava.
“It would have been a different game and that is why the third goal is so disappointing. You have practically given them the tie which is really frustrating.”
Bradley continued: “The players know that in the first-half we weren’t good enough. Ludogorets were very good but we weren’t good enough.
“But we knew in the second-half that we performed a lot better. And there were so many positives from the second half to take into next week.
“So when you give away a goal in the last 40 seconds like we did, we play out when we’re not set to play, is really, really naive from a really experienced group of players.
“And the players know in the dressing room that shouldn’t happen.
“We don’t do that at home to a team in the Leinster Senior Cup, never mind to Ludogorets in the Champions League. It’s really really poor from us.”
Cypriot international Pieros Sotiriou scored twice in nine deadly first-half minutes, either side of the half hour mark.
And at that stage, it looked like the Bulgarians - domestic champions for the last 11 years running - could win by a big margin.
But the Hoops were much improved after the break and looked dangerous when Graham Burke and Sean Kavanagh came off the bench.
Bradley said: “We were good and had one or two good chances and we were playing some good football.
“But the third goal we have given away is really, really poor from our point of view and really naive. It makes it an almost impossible challenge.
“We knew we had the second leg to come in Tallaght and when it's 2-0, you take that and say okay, and make a right game of it in Tallaght.
“But it was naivety - we play when we're not supposed to play and invite them on to press us and we get punished.
“We knew the first-half wasn't us. Our decisions were slow and we were inviting them to press us and we didn't penetrate enough, our angles were poor.
“We were just off the game in every aspect. We showed them a bit too much respect. Second half we were better in all of those departments.
“We were unlucky not to score with Sean Hoare from the corner - score that and it's 2-1 and you take it to Tallaght and it's a totally different tie.
“But at this level it's small margins and details and we shot ourselves in the foot right at the end.”
Before facing Ludogorets again next Tuesday, Rovers host Drogheda United in a league game on Saturday afternoon.
And Bradley added: “We have to learn from this and focus on Drogheda.”
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