Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill praised his players for "doing the club proud" after their Heineken Cup hopes came to an agonising end in Toulon.
Tigers lost a titanic battle as Jonny Wilkinson kicked all of his side's points in a 21-15 victory, held in the pulsating atmosphere of the Stade Felix Mayol.
Leicester led 9-0 at one stage after completely dominating the opening half-an-hour, but yellow cards to Toby Flood and Dan Cole allowed the home side to score 12 unanswered points while they were off the field.
Cockerill said that was key to the game.
"The yellow cards killed us and put the wind in their sails, especially in that first half when we were 9-0 ahead and they were under pressure," he said.
"We could have won it and the players fronted up massively.
"If the ball had bounced our way when Adam Thompstone was attacking at the end, we would have won it.
"Nobody can say we bottled it. I'm proud of the players. They did themselves proud and the club proud.
"It was a titanic battle between two good sides and two big clubs. What we have got, money cannot buy, and the willingness of these guys to play for this club is tremendous. I'm not going to beat myself up, or be upset with the players because they lost by six points in a game like this. They gave absolutely everything.
"Many sides come here and get well beaten – we didn't. Credit to Jonny Wilkinson for kicking his goals, but we move on having played well and with our heads held high."
Tigers suffered when Tom Croft had to leave the pitch with a back spasm in the first-half.
Yet, while Croft is expected to return to action soon, loose-head prop Marcos Ayerza is likely to be out for the season with a suspected broken clavicle picked up when lock Bakkies Botha made a run towards the line.
Cockerill believed that was clear foul play by the South African.
"Marcos has broken his clavicle from the knee that Botha put in," said Cockerill.
"I have asked the citing commissioner to look at it. If two of my blokes have been sent from the field for slapping the ball down, you have got to look at that.
"For the yellow cards, Flood was trying to catch the ball and Cole's was an instinctive reaction.
"That is frustrating, but I don't want to detract from a very good performance from both sides. We came here with a plan to play at them and put them under pressure – and we did just that.
"We were under pressure at times and the physicality of their side is very good.
"They are not top of the French championship for nothing.
"We are disappointed but will move on, and we have one tournament to concentrate on now. That is where we will concentrate our energy."
