A DRAMATIC Dublin derby on Friday night marked the start of the most intense time of year for Shamrock Rovers.
Stephen Bradley is relishing it.
The Hoops head coach attempted to bring some perspective to his side’s 2-2 draw with Bohemians at Dalymount Park, having taken a two-goal lead early in the second half only for the hosts to produce a thrilling comeback in front of another raucous sell-out crowd in Phibsborough.
“Some of our play was excellent, we need to understand what happened and correct it. We got a kick in the arse and came away with a point, we will take that. Worried? Not with that performance, it happens and we move on.”
Bradley won’t have to wait long. Closest challengers Derry City come to Tallaght Stadium on Monday night. The Candystripes have already won on the champions’ home turf in March, while Rovers got their own back in the Ryan McBride Brandywell two months later.
Four points separate the top two so the stakes are clear.
Rovers will have Aaron Greene available, Gary O’Neill faces another 10 days on the sidelines while Trevor Clarke requires an operation on Monday that will likely rule him out until early September.
Club captain Ronan Finn will also be assessed this weekend after he was forced off in the first half last night, and first-choice goalkeeper Alan Mannus has returned to training but continues to build up the strength in the finger he broke.
“It’s only a matter of time,” Bradley said, before again praising Leon Pohls who pulled off one excellent save from Bohs’ James Akintunde when the scores were level.
Bradley and the club’s sporting director, Stephen McPhail, will fly to Iceland first thing Tuesday to run the rule over the four teams taking part in the preliminary round of the Champions League qualifiers.
The expectation is that Breiðablik will advance from their one-legged semi-final with S.P. Tre Penne (San Marino) and will then be too strong for either FK Budućnost Podgorica (Montenegro) or Atlètic Club d’Escaldes (Andorra) in the final.
Rovers then wait in the first leg of the first round on 12 July, with three Premier Division games in the meantime.
“It’s what we want, this is what we have always wanted, we want more of it, we are much better prepared physically and mentally, we have been aiming for this since the first day of the season and we are in a really good place,” Bradley insisted.
“One or two knocks but hopefully we get them back soon, we will make changes on Monday with Friday in mind.”
And while there is no time to dwell, Bradley admitted the problems caused by Bohs striker Jonathan Afolabi
“He’s a good player. We’ve known that for some time. He trained with us for the best part of two months a few years back before he went to the [Under-19] Euros. We know all about him, and at times he was good.
“But it came off the back of us being sloppy at times, when we were in control and calm and making good decisions we were in control of the game. That hectic spell, to be fair to them, they punished us.”
It’s only going to get busier, with Derry on Monday, that visit to Iceland on Tuesday, before Dundalk away on Friday.
Then Europe will really come into view.
