David Sneyd

THIS SHELBOURNE PERFORMANCE at Tallaght Stadium bodes well for a rousing finale to their season.

Joey O’Brien insists it will be a failure if his side don’t qualify for Europe and reach the knockout stages of the Uefa Conference League, so a stirring 1-0 victory over champions-elect Shamrock Rovers in the manner it was delivered suggests that the Reds are capable of delivering on their manager’s expectations.

They will soon be deposed as champions but maintaining this display as a base standard for the remainder of their European campaign would seem to be a necessity if they are to lengthen the season into the New Year.

Tallaght is their home venue in the third-tier competition and they already got a point on the board following a well-earned 0-0 draw with Hacken earlier this month.

Kosovan side Drita are the next visitors to Dublin in early November, by which time the Reds will have already faced KF Shkëndija in North Macedonia as well as back-to-back Dublin derbies with rivals for a Euro place, Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic.

O’Brien was defiant and definitive in the aftermath of Kerr McInroy’s winner last night. “I mean, we’re the champions of this country. And I said that to our boys, you know, they’re out there and people are talking about, ‘oh, they’re (Rovers) going to win it’. And I said, ‘yeah, don’t forget what you have on your arm, you know. We have the badge, the champions of this country. We work really hard to be here. Make sure we go out and put in a performance of champions’,” he said, before stating their aims for the next couple of months.

“This is the standards this football club has set the last few years. As I said to the lads, for me, it’s all about Europe. Our aim is to qualify for Europe and to get out of the European group stages. If we don’t do that, it’s failure.”

Shels travel to Cork City on Monday knowing a victory over the bottom club will see them go above Bohs into third place. They would also be just two points adrift of Derry City in second with three games to play – albeit Bohs have four.

Finishing as runners-up will also secure a place in the first qualifying round of the Europa League provided Rovers beat Cork in the FAI Cup final.

“No, no, it’s about taking care of the business,” O’Brien said. “As I said to the lads, you don’t look at what can happen or if they do that or they do this. That’s not how you play. That’s not how we attack games. It’s about getting out and taking care of your own business and that was our opportunity [last night],” O’Brien said.

There was an irony that McInroy delivered the goal that kept the Hoops waiting for their fifth title in six seasons. It was back in May that former Shels boss Damien Duff accused Rovers and their head coach, Stephen Bradley, of a lack of respect after the Hoops triumphed at Tolka Park.

Their relationship began to deteriorate when Duff hailed McInroy as the best midfielder in the league and Bradley responded soon after by saying his counterpart can get a bit carried away and emotional.

A subsequent 2-2 draw at Tallaght Stadium led to further issues with both managers accusing each other of a lack of respect. O’Brien described McInroy as “the best player on the pitch” and highlighted his all-action display.

“There’s a lot of talk about midfielders and playing as a six and playing like pivots and all this sort of jazz. Here, you can’t beat a box-to-box midfielder. I think when you see an overall performance like that, breaking into the box to score the goal here, I think he’s hard done with another one. Down the other end, making slide tackles on the edge of his box. I thought he was a brilliant.”

For Rovers, they have put themselves in such a strong position with four games to go that it’s only a matter of time they are confirmed as champions. Bradley wants it done as soon as possible with their own Conference League campaign also underway, and they could wrap it up next Friday with a point away to St Patrick’s Athletic before Celje arrive to Tallaght the following week.

“When you get to this point, this end bit is always the longest bit. It always is because you’re just there and you’re reaching and you’re reaching. When you’re in the season, you’re just week to week, nice and calm,” Bradley said.

“But because we know we’re there, it always feels like it’s longer than normal and you’re reaching for it. We’ll just recover and do everything possible to go to Pat’s next week and win the game.”

Bradley and his assistant, Glenn Cronin, are also preparing for the Dublin marathon at the end of this month so know all about suffering at the final hurdle.

“We did 35 [kilometres] on Saturday and the last five, Jesus, I needed someone to come and throw me on the back of the motorbike! But we got through it. Look, we’re nearly there.”