Having watched the heartbreak of one or two World Cup penalty misses in recent weeks, Ryan Guy faced his own last minute spot kick miss against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on Monday night.

With the Saints trailing by one goal, Guy was handed the opportunity to level matters in the dying seconds when referee Alan Kelly awarded a penalty after Billy Dennehy had deliberately handled on the ball on the line.

Dennehy’s actions mirrored those of Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who famously handled on the line to prevent Ghana scoring in their World Cup quarter final match.

However, just as Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan missed his spot kick in that match, Guy had to watch as Rovers ‘keeper Alan Mannus denied him from 12 yards.

While he was devastated with the miss, the American striker is more determined to play better than ever for the Saints – starting with UCD on Friday night at Richmond Park.

“I was the nominated penalty taker for the day, I was feeling confident and had no hesitation in opting to step up,” he said. “ I probably hit it higher than I would have liked and their keeper made a decent save.

“ I was devastated, it was as bad a feeling as you can possibly get, you feel you’ve let the supporters, the players and the club all down. You had the opportunity of glory or bust and unfortunately I ended up with the latter.

“Whatever fire I have inside me for the club it’s now burning stronger than ever. I desperately  want to make up for that miss and the only way I know do that is to go out and play better than I ever have for St Pat’s. I suppose one good thing is that there are more matches coming up starting with UCD on Friday and that is now my focus”.

St Patrick’s Athletic take on UCD at Friday night in UCD with a 7.45pm kick off at Richmond Park.