Shamrock Rovers capturing a third successive league title, in any era, must be lauded but rival clubs will view this season as an opportunity missed.
Granted, Derry City, Dundalk and St Patrick’s Athletic underwent significant squad rebuilding this year, but Rovers first attempt at fighting on three fronts since 2012 — the Europa Conference League (ECL) group stages, the FAI Cup and defending the Airtricity League — left them exposed.
When the inevitable wobble occurred, Derry under Ruaidhrí Higgins, with Michael Duffy back from injury, were the only team positioned to reel them in. But the Candystripes stirring nine-match winning streak was ended by Cup final opponents Shelbourne last Friday, before they came up short tonight in Sligo with a 0-0 draw to hand Rovers the title with two games to spare.
In the same period, Rovers gathered 17 of a possible 21 points to keep Derry at arms-length. This came at a short-term financial cost with manager Stephen Bradley effectively sacrificing immediate progress in Europe to ensure a return to the ECL group stages in 2023.
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Last night’s result at the Showgrounds also denies fans a much-anticipated grandstand finish as Derry travel to Tallaght on Sunday for the penultimate league match. At least Thursday’s home tie with Gent of Belgium is guaranteed to be a big occasion for the Rovers faithful as the League of Ireland champions can finally prioritise European football.
When the ECL group stages began with Djurgardens of Sweden playing out a nil-all draw in Tallaght on September 8th, Rovers were four points clear of Derry with a game in hand. This was nowhere near enough daylight to put Europe top of the club’s agenda as Bradley made clear-eyed decisions to avoid slip-ups on the domestic front, to the detriment of the already enormous challenges of away nights in Belgium and Norway, where they were twice beaten 3-0 in recent weeks.
At Gent’s Ghelamco Arena on September 15th, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe sprinkled magic dust over a strong Hoops line-up after the normally solid Daniel Cleary made an error that emphasised how far Rovers trail bottom tier European sides on a technical level.
“The second goal is on me,” said Bradley afterwards. “I ask the players to play that way in every game, so I take responsibility for that.
“Dan [Cleary] is one of the best passing centre halves we have, he is probably the best in the country at it. It is very, very rare that you see a mistake like that, unfortunately he slipped and at this level you don’t get away with that.”
Cleary slipped under the sort of pressure Rovers only encounter on the Continent.
“We knew before we kicked a ball we were going to win, lose and draw games in the group,” added Bradley.
The “win” in that sentence remains elusive, with two opportunities remaining at home to Gent on Thursday and way to Djurgardens on November 3rd.
The schedule has been relentless, playing 12 games in 43 days since September 8th, winning five, drawing three and losing four but crucially going undefeated in the league.
After Gent, the squad skipped going home, flying to Belfast to make the FAI Cup quarter-final against Derry three days later at the Brandywell, where they lost 3-1 after extra-time following a harsh red card for Lee Grace.
This appeared to solidify Bradley’s mindset, that there is no Champions League route into the Europa Conference if they fail to retain their title, so Rory Gaffney, Jack Byrne, Graham Burke and Neil Farrugia were benched for Molde away on October 6th.
“People just look at the game but it’s the airports, the buses, getting home at four or five in the morning, the mental fatigue on the players,” said Bradley last Friday. “You’re making four or five changes that you don’t want to make because it upsets the rhythm.”
All four players started three days later against Damien Duff’s well-drilled Shelbourne with Gaffney’s outstanding campaign as the lone striker delivering a 95th-minute winner.
It was Jack Byrne, in a season largely spoiled by injury, who spun the corner that was half-cleared to the back post where Gaffney’s sweet volley will forever supply the archive footage for the season.
Four days later, the Tuam man was benched alongside Farrugia and Burke for a 2-0 loss to Molde at home and three days after that arguably the strongest Rovers starting XI drew 1-1 in Drogheda before St Pat’s were devoured 4-1 last Friday.
In the end, Rovers experience shone through, with six players over 30 and two Irish internationals in Burke and Byrne running the show. The squad will need redesigning this winter, as Ireland under-21 Andy Lyons departs for Blackpool and academy graduates Justin Ferizaj (17) and Aidomo Emakhu (18) attract attention from foreign clubs.
“We want to be there again next year and if we are, we want to make sure we’re more prepared for it. I feel that we’ll be better for this experience.”
Further investment in Derry City by billionaire chairman Philip O’Doherty and Dundalk under the new (old) ownership consortium should enable to come stronger in 2023, but Bradley is not wrong in stating Rovers will be better for their 2022 experiences.
