FORMER LIMERICK FC and Mervue United striker Rory Gaffney gained automatic promotion to League One with Bristol Rovers on Saturday afternoon in dramatic fashion and has since compared the atmosphere to that of a “county final”.
Rovers had to beat Dagenham and Redbridge on the final day to see them sneak into the top three, as well as needing results to go their way elsewhere to confirm consecutive promotions under the guidance of manager Darrell Clarke.
Gaffney originally signed on loan for the Gas from Cambridge United, but that move was made permanent back in January after a successful spell at the Memorial Stadium.
Speaking after the final day drama, Gaffney detailed the rollercaster of emotions.
He said:
It was just a normal day. I had a friend stay with me. It wasn’t until I got around the stadium that I knew it was big. There’s normally a big atmosphere around the place and I knew this was special. It was like a county final.
“It’s an odd one because when I last won something with Limerick in 2012, we kind of knew we were going to win the league. When I came on loan to Bristol, they were 12th and had just been promoted so I’d have imagined they’d have been happy with that.
“I never once thought we wouldn’t win on the day. We hadn’t lost at all at home since I signed – we won all but one game. The support behind us is unbelievable so I was just nervous about other results really.”
Gaffney was replaced in the 66th minute with the score tied at 1-1 – and had to watch the drama unfold from the bench.
“With about 20 minutes left, I still felt we’d get one. When I was taken off, all I kept doing was replaying the header I missed in the first half over and over again in my head.
“There was a sequence late on where it was just: post, save, miss, corner, cross, repeat. Then we had to clear one off the line. I kept thinking we’d get one more chance – we did and we missed it. I could accept not going up because of other results but not because of us not winning,” he said.
Lee Brown eventually got the winner deep into stoppage time – finding himself in the right place at the right time to tap home Matty Taylor’s shot that came back off the post. The fans ran onto the pitch at full time, but an Accrington Stanley winner would have seen Gaffney’s Bristol Rovers drop into the playoff spots. That goal did not arrive.
Gaffney said:
I’m not one for crazy celebrations. We won the game and the fans invaded the pitch and were hanging out of your neck, but I knew the other games probably hadn’t finished. I had friends over and they managed to find me on the pitch. I spent what felt like about five minutes on Livescore refreshing the app. I saw full time and felt the relief.”
After a frustrating stint at Cambridge, Gaffney found a home in Bristol (scoring 10 goals in thirty games) and has gone from strength to strength, but he knows the real challenge awaits next year – a challenge he is relishing.
“I’ve never played League One football, so I honestly don’t know what it’ll be like. The gaffer has been quoted as saying that everyone will be offered new deals if we went up. We have new investors now, so it’s an exciting time to be at the club,” he concluded.
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