Paul Tisdale said he had no thoughts about trying to run down the clock in the final minutes of Exeter City's game with Portsmouth.
The Grecians looked to be on the verge of a hard-earned point going into the first minute of injury time when the ball went out of play for a throw-in near where Tisdale was standing.
The City manager became irked by the fact that Portsmouth's players, content to settle for a draw, seemed to be take their time to get to the throw – so much so that he picked the ball up and gave it to Pompey full-back Joe Devera.
However, Devera then threw the ball down the line for Jed Wallace to pick up and he stepped past Matt Oakley and drilled a shot, from the edge of the box, into the net to take all three points.
"I wish I hadn't done it now," said Tisdale. "I wish I had stood on the ball and when the lad came to pick it up, I'd kicked it away, like most do, but I wanted to win the game. I wasn't there for a point. I don't want my team to see me killing 20 seconds either, because they are good enough on the pitch to win more than they lose. If I have to do that then it says to my team that we are not good enough. So I'm not going to mess around with the ball, I want the ball back in play whether we are winning or losing. So the day I do that (waste time), shoot me."
City were going for the win in the final stages of the game, with Arron Davies rattling the crossbar and Matt Oakley, Christian Ribeiro and David Wheeler having good chances to score.
However, former Grecian James Dunne also hit the crossbar in the second-half for Portsmouth and Wallace missed a penalty after Matt Tubbs had been brought down in the area by Ribeiro.
City played with three strikers for the final half hour of the match, but Tisdale made no apologies for making it an open game. Exeter had drawn their last two matches and Tisdale was well aware that they badly needed the three points to put pressure on the sides above them in the play-off places.
"The more fluid the game was the more chance we had of doing well in it and the three points was just as important if not more important than the point," said Tisdale. "We have lost one point, but we will go for three points again next time we play."
It is the third time this season that City have conceded a crucial goal in injury time, with the Grecians losing a winning position at the Kassam Stadium against Oxford United and a point at home to Accrington Stanley in the final minutes of matches during January, to add to an injury-time goal they let in during the opening weeks of the season at Northampton Town.
Tisdale said, if he analysed the goal carefully, he could find fault with his defenders. However, he was more concerned with the fact that his strikers didn't manage to find the back of the net.
"I normally have to go back and watch the video to properly dissect things, but the fact of the matter is for the goal we have got them against the line, with a throw-in, and they have come on the inside.
"So as soon as he (Wallace) cuts inside and gets into that D the chance of him scoring greatly rise. He took it very, very well. However, the fact is, we defended very well all game and the more salient point is that we should have put the ball in the back of the net in a few points leading up to that.
"We had our opportunities in that last 15 minutes; Arron Davies hit the crossbar, Matt Oakley had a good chance blocked and David Wheeler was close to getting on the end of a cross.
"There were two or three opportunities for us to score and that has to be more of a talking point for us than some minor errors that lead to the goal. I really am disappointed that we didn't put the ball in the back of the net, but we tried very hard."
