Shamrock Rovers v Galway United, Tallaght Stadium, Wednesday, 8pm – Live on LOITV
One point is all Shamrock Rovers need to consign an increasingly disastrous run of results in October to the history books.
A draw against relegation-threatened Galway Untied would not only capture a fifth League of Ireland title in six seasons for Stephen Bradley’s side, it would turn Shelbourne’s breakthrough success last year into an aberration.
Rovers will probably cling to the top spot if they lose to both Galway and Sligo Rovers in their last Premier Division match on Saturday as Derry City would need to engineer an 11-goal swing away to Cork City.
Bradley deals with adversity in the same engaging manner that he embraces success, stating throughout Rovers’ five defeats in the last six games that all would be fine. But the wheels could come off their Uefa Conference League campaign if they sustain a third-straight loss away to AEK Athens on November 6th, a fixture that comes three days before the FAI Cup final against Cork City at the Aviva Stadium.
RM Block
It was surprising to hear Bradley deny that fatigue is a factor in their recent results, considering the Rovers squad have been training or playing matches for 20 straight months, having had to narrow their preseason to a few weeks either side of last Christmas due to progress in Europe.
“We’ve been winning leagues and competing in Europe for a long time,” he said following the 2-1 loss to Derry on Sunday. “You get so comfortable with it, but I understand people will react to the results. But if you watch the performances, it’s got nothing to do with fatigue, it’s the small things that have gone against us.”
Maybe so, but Rovers remain a work in progress when it comes to managing a European campaign and dominating the domestic scene.
“I think it’s really important that people understand what this group are doing and what they have done,” said Bradley. “It’s unprecedented in Ireland, what the group can achieve this year.
“That’s full credit to the players who’ve been exceptional. The last few weeks we’ve had tough moments, but that’s football, that’s the way it goes. Not everything is plain sailing, but you can’t lose sight of where this group has taken the club.”
John Caulfield’s Galway United are built upon defensive principles, so Rovers will have to break down the visitors low-block without injured midfielder Danny Mandroiu.
Galway are locked on 38 points with Sligo Rovers and Waterford, the latter in the relegation play-off spot due to their -19 goal difference while Galway are -6 with Wednesday’s game in hand.
If it comes down to Waterford versus Galway at the RSC on Saturday evening, Rovers might allow the ever-growing mental fatigue to prevail when Sligo show up in Tallaght.
By then, surely, they will have won the league.
