Portlaoise boss John Mulligan admitted after Sunday's Leinster SFC defeat to Rhode that his side "paid the price" for their wasteful scoring chances at O'Connor Park, which saw them lose out by two points. Mulligan watched his side kick 13 wides, eight of which were in the second-half, and exit the provincial championship but believes that the chances his side missed could have well had them into the last four. "Disappointed is the word yeah," said Mulligan. "We could have got a draw out of it or, if we had taken the chances that were available to us, we could have won it but that's neither here nor there. "You can't afford to kick the wides we did at this level. We had a great second-half but unfortunately we paid a price for the first-half with what we consider two soft goals. I suppose when you concede a goal you consider it soft and when you score one you think it's a great goal. We paid the price especially the second goal." Despite coming out of a gloomy dressing room after the game, Mulligan lauded the spirit of his players as well as the slick football that Rhode played on the day, while dismissing any talk on his own future. "The players are absolutely devastated," he admitted after the game. "They are an unassuming group of lads to work with, they really worked hard and they wanted to do well in this competition. They're not fellas who were just happy to win a county title, they're not like that and I couldn't speak highly enough of them. "I wouldn't make any decision just yet. Obviously I'm appointed now but I won't be rushing into anything. I expect Rhode to go all the way. I like the way they play football and I think they're a good team. They have a good mixture of players, they are not cynical and I hope they are around in Croke Park on St Partrick's day." Tweet

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