ON FRIDAY night, Shamrock Rovers dominated the post-match talk, as they often do.
A 0-0 draw with Shelbourne at Tolka Park left the reigning champions third from bottom in the Premier Division table and winless after five games.
Whether their disappointing recent results merely represent a blip — as Stephen Bradley has suggested — or something more serious is debatable.
But all the speculation surrounding Rovers and the angry scenes involving a small portion of their fanbase at the end perhaps overshadowed what was a fine performance from the hosts.
With players of the calibre and creativity of Jack Byrne, Neil Farrugia, and Graham Burke, Rovers would still be most neutrals’ choice as the best attacking side in the country.
They showed these qualities on Monday when they earned a dramatic 4-4 draw with Cork City on Monday — while the performance was poor overall by their standards, the manner in which they overwhelmed the Leesiders with wave after wave of attack in the dying stages was impressive.
Shels were surely expecting a similar onslaught at Tolka, but instead, it was Damien Duff’s side who came closest to winning at the end, though they could not make the most of a couple of last-gasp attacks.
Given that the home team put so much energy into defending their goal, it is perhaps unsurprising that they looked a little toothless on the rare opportunities they got on the counter-attack.
That said, they undoubtedly missed the presence of Sean Boyd, their star striker who is currently out injured and who was the only Shels player to make the PFAI Team of the Season last year.
But Shels were otherwise hugely impressive in combatting the substantial Rovers threat.
Inevitably, there were a couple of scary moments for Duff’s men — Rory Gaffney should have done better with an early second-half header while Conor Kearns made decent saves from respective efforts by Graham Burke and Richie Towell, but the visitors’ threat was sporadic at best.
Jose Mourinho was undoubtedly the most high-profile coach Duff worked under as a player and Shelbourne produced the type of performance on Friday that suggested the Portuguese coach’s influence has had a lasting impact on the former Irish international.
As Mourinho teams often do, Shels were set up to frustrate their opponents and not get beat. While they did show more attacking ambition as the match wore on, there was an element of ‘parking the bus’ in the display and Bradley said afterwards that he expected their rivals to have “a bit more of a go”.
Keeping Rovers at bay is no mean feat though, as Cork discovered earlier in the week, but Shels seldom looked in danger of conceding.
Duff is perceptive enough to know that his team cannot match some of the stronger sides in the division in terms of quality.
With one or two exceptions, the manager is working with a young and relatively inexperienced squad owing to the club’s inability to match the top sides’ comparative financial strength.
“Usually at 27/28/29, a player with a lot of experience in the league that has a bit of quality costs €1,200 a week,” he told reporters ahead of this season’s kick-off. “I ain’t got that, I might be able to get one or two or three of them but a lot of the teams above can keep forking out and I can’t.
“I want loads of kids in — they don’t answer back. The reason I got in Paddy [Barrett] is that he’s a personality and a presence, something we have lacked before.
“Your title-winners with medals and experience cost too much money, at the same time young kids prove they are exciting and hopefully one day they will be 26/27 and commanding these wages and plenty of medals under their belt.”
Given these limitations with which he is required to work, it is natural that Duff is concentrating on making his side hard to beat first and foremost.
Already, they have managed three clean sheets from five games and conceded on just three occasions — only Derry City have a better top-flight defensive record as it stands.
They handed table-toppers Bohemians their sole defeat so far and only suffered narrow losses to St Pat’s and Dundalk amid what was a very difficult-looking opening run of fixtures.
One moment that stood out the other day was when Luke Byrne threw himself at Neil Farrugia’s goalbound shot John Terry-style.
It was just one isolated defensive block but it epitomised the discipline, commitment to the cause and sheer heart that characterised Shels’ display at large.
Their hungry youngsters were meticulously organised and did not give the Hoops an inch.
They played with an infectious energy and could match Rovers’ intensity if not their technical ability.
Of the 15 players that featured for the hosts, aside from Paddy Barrett (29) and Luke Byrne (29), every individual involved was between the ages of 20 and 25.
At 44, Duff himself is young in coaching terms, though he has impressed during what has been a short stint thus far in management.
They were dealt a blow with Paddy Barrett needing to go off injured at half-time and the tactical shift at the break to go with two players up front to try to relieve some of the pressure on the defence may have been seen as a risk but it proved beneficial ultimately.
All of which suggests the Ireland legend, who has long been highly regarded as a coach, may have a long future in management as he continues to immerse himself in the job.
“I’m going to Dalymount or Pat’s and I know what it’s all about as an opposing manager,” he said recently. “I know what I’m dealing with in other dugouts, I know the players now because you can watch them on Wyscout all you want, but I have seen them first hand.
“I made 101 mistakes last year but I think I know everything and everyone inside out now. That is the biggest learning.”
By finishing seventh and reaching the FAI Cup final, the Drumcondra-based side exceeded expectations last year.
If they can maintain Friday’s level of performance on a consistent basis, Duff’s team, with their solid-looking foundation and coterie of exciting young players, have the potential to spring a few surprises once again this season.
