Shamrock Rovers 1 Gent 1
Rory Gaffney does not run, he saunters. The outstanding player in the League of Ireland all season finally scored in the group stages of the Europa Conference League, his 12th this year, to nestle with 13 assists.
The goal was almost worth half a million euro.
Teenager Justin Ferizaj’s sending off, for a second yellow card, with 18 minutes remaining was harshly punished by Gent sub Hyunseok Hong snatching an equaliser seconds later. The draw saw Shamrock Rovers’ Uefa prize money for the night drop from €500,000 to €166,000. Costly, but they cannot not feel robbed as this relentless campaign nears a satisfying conclusion.
Gaffney would have broken his duck before now if Rovers manager Stephen Bradley was not tuned to the bigger picture. The 33-year-old was benched for three of the five Group F matches to protect ageing limbs and ensure a third successive league title was secured.
The master plan became poetry in motion when Gaffney dropped to the back post against Shelbourne on October 9th to score a peach of a volley. Goal of the season, player of the year and a subtle header here to reward the creativity of Neill Farrugia and Richie Towell.
Farrugia in particular looks like a potential Ireland international, as Stephen Kenny has suggested, now the 23-year-old’s chronic hamstring issues have abated. Marauding up and down the right, the visitors struggled to contain him, although he did spurn two goalscoring opportunities.
Qualification to the knockout stages looked beyond Gent at half-time as Molde of Norway took a 2-0 over Djurgardens of Sweden. The visitors could have led 3-1 by the turn in Tallaght, only for two brilliant saves from Alan Mannus and Lee Grace’s late intervention to deny Ibrahim Salah.
Come full-time, however, Djurgardens recovered to win 3-2 and top group outright with one round to play, making Gent v Molde next Thursday a million euro affair.
Perhaps Shamrock Rovers psychologically rattled Gent on what appeared, to the naked eye, a chastising night last September in Belgium. Having strolled to a 3-0 victory, it seemed like they were sharpening blades for a two-pronged domestic and Europa assault. Instead, they lost five of the next eight matches to fall off the pace in Group F and after sliding to fifth in the Jupiler League now face missing out on European football next season.
Turns out they do not like it up them. Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, regal in the first meeting, was unable to dominate midfield on this blustery evening. Sean Kavanagh eventually took a yellow card for cutting through Andrew Hjulsager but these were, quite clearly, the rules of engagement permitted by Austria referee Julian Weinberger. Hjulsager’s vicious shot off the free-kick pulled the spectacular out of Mannus, who already denied Salah from point-blank range.
Early injuries to Dylan Watts and Chris McCann, who had been excellent, could have disrupted matters but Grace and Ferizaj arrived to further prove the value of squad depth even if Rovers clearly need an injection of youth this winter. The €3.7 million-plus in Uefa Prize money will help.
The 6,203 crowd were briefly silenced by Hong’s goal, but the prospect of lifting silverware after the Derry City game on Sunday kept spirits high.
Rovers, purring since being confirmed league champions last Monday, survived to reaffirm Tallaght as a fortress (albeit under construction). Molde of Norway may have scaled the walls a fortnight ago but otherwise the home record in 2022 against continental opposition reads four wins and a draw. The vanquished Maltese, Bulgarian, North Macedonian and Hungarian teams may not fear them but The Hoops name rings around Uefa’s third tier.
Respectability is enough for now.
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Hoare, Lopes, Cleary; Farrugia, Kavanagh, Watts (Ferizaj 24), McCann (Grace 34), Towell (Gannon 93), Lyons; Gaffney (Serdeniuk 93).
Gent: Nardi; Okumu, Ngadeu-Ngadjui, Godeau; Samoise, Marreh (Kums 45), Odjida-Ofoe (van Den Bergh 88), Hauge (Hong 60); Hjulsager, Depoitre, Salah (Fortuna 75).
Referee: Julian Weinberger (Austria).
