David Domb believes his Hyde Park Rovers side have been made to pay the ultimate price for their indiscipline after seeing their title dreams go up in smoke.
Darren Wyndham's own-goal gifted Manchester Maccabi 3rd a priceless victory over the Leeds students as Rovers crashed to defeat in their final league game of the season.
Despite dominating the contest, the hosts were unable to make the breakthrough with Maccabi keeper David Cohen producing two stunning saves to earn his side the points. And assistant-boss Domb says Rovers only have themselves to blame after suffering a spate of suspensions and having a result overturned following an administration error.
"In the end, it's our behaviour which has cost us because this team is good enough to win the league," said Domb.
"The dream is over though. It's a real shame because we've gone out with a bit of a whimper.
"It's tough being a student team because we never have a settled side and are never able to field the same line-up.
"Also, being students, we tend to think we know it all and that's where we get caught out because we don't. We're not as disciplined as the adult teams and that has cost us because they wind us up and we're easy targets.
"We need to address that because both I and Phillip Braham have made it abundantly clear that we won't tolerate bad behaviour."
Despite winning their first five fixtures of the season, Rovers could finish as low as fourth after recording 37 points from their 18 league games.
But Domb is adamant his men can still end their season on a high with Rovers facing semi-final ties in both the Shonn Trophy and Feldman Cup.
"We know we can still win some silverware this season but it's up to the lads to prove how much they want it," he added.
"If we can win a trophy then it will be a very successful season for us."
The defeat to Manchester Maccabi means Martin Simons' men are now the only side who can stop Republic of Mancunia from claiming the league title.
"It was a closely contested game by two young and enthusiastic teams," said Simons. "I feel that we deserved the win but only just.
"We played better than we have been doing of late and the commitment of our young players was admirable although Hyde Park certainly threatened on a couple of occasions.
"As far as the title race is concerned, it basically boils down to who wins the game on April 10 when we play Republic of Mancunia.
"But we still have a difficult fixture in Liverpool against Haroldeans to come on April 3 so there's still all to play for."
Oakhill Lions were held to a 2-2 draw by Sporting JLGB. Simon Nesbitt and Dan Cohen were on target for the hosts with Rafi Bloom and Saul Davies scoring for Sporting.
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