STEPHEN BRADLEY HAS expressed his anger at the decision which will keep captain Ronan Finn out of their FAI Cup quarter-final against Bluebell United.
Finn was sent off after being shown two yellow cards by referee Rob Rogers in last Friday night’s 3-0 second-round win over Shelbourne at Tolka Park.
The 29-year-old midfielder was booked in the first half for a foul on Shelbourne’s James English, before receiving his marching orders for a dive just outside the box in the 81st minute.
Finn will now be suspended for the last-eight clash with Bluebell, who themselves will be without Keith Fahey. The former Irish international was sent off in the Leinster Senior League side’s 1-0 win against Cabinteely.
Speaking this afternoon ahead of tomorrow night’s Premier Division game against Cork City in Tallaght, Bradley hit out at the decision to dismiss Finn.
“I thought Ronan Finn’s red card was disgraceful,” said the Shamrock Rovers manager. “I watched the game back and one of their midfielders made five or six fouls in the first 10 minutes and never got a booking.
“Ronan made one foul in the first half and got booked for it. It’s that inconsistency that really annoys you as a manager because he’s obviously a big player for us and he’s going to miss a big game.”
Nevertheless, Bradley has expressed his satisfaction with the draw. Although Bluebell are the home team, the FAI confirmed today that the game will take place at Tallaght Stadium a week tomorrow — Friday, 8 September — at 7.45pm.
“It’s a great draw. If you had asked me before the draw, it’s the one I would have wanted. I know what Bluebell are about, I’ve watched them first hand and I know what Andy Noonan is doing at that club. He’s doing some really good stuff. But if we show up and respect the game and play to our potential it’s a great draw for us.
“It’s definitely something that excites us, being two wins away from an FAI Cup final. I keep saying we need to win something, any competition, and get that feeling in the group,” said Bradley, whose side will face Dundalk in the EA Sports Cup final in Tallaght on Saturday, 16 September.
Meanwhile, Bradley refused to be drawn on comments made yesterday by John Caulfield. The Cork City boss accused Rovers of “gamesmanship” in the EA Sports Cup semi-final between the teams earlier this month.
Should Dundalk fail to get the better of St Patrick’s Athletic tomorrow night, City will be crowned Premier Division champions for the first time in 12 years if they overcome Rovers.
“I respect John and I respect Cork in terms of what they’re doing this year — winning a league. They’ve worked long and hard to get here — four years of work — so they deserve all the respect in the world for that. I’ve no interest in getting involved in talking about something that happened three weeks ago,” Bradley said.
“Cork have earned the right to win the league wherever they win it, whether it’s Tallaght or wherever they play next week. People think it’s a big motivation for us but I don’t care. Obviously you don’t roll over and say ‘well done’, you want to go and win the game.
“Anyone that comes to Tallaght, we want to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s Cork or whoever. We’ve been very good here all year, other than [against] Bohs.”
