Fenlon’s fixtures fury as Shels back on the road

SHELBOURNE boss Pat Fenlon has hit out at the tight fixture schedule which has forced him to postpone preparations for next week’s Champions League clash with Steaua Bucharest.

Fenlon’s men booked a two-legged date with the former European champions by completing a thumping 6-2 aggregate victory over Glentoran with a 4-1 second leg win at Tolka Park on Wednesday night.

But before Steaua visit Dublin next Wednesday night Fenlon has to raise his team for their eircom League trip to Bray Wanderers tonight. Fenlon believes his team ought to receive more breathing space as they seek to build the league’s profile with another successful Champions League campaign.

Fenlon said: “People in the league pat you on the back but they stick you in the back at the same time - but we’ll get on with it like we had to last year.

“We are going out to watch Steaua tomorrow and we have a couple of videos on the way. We will plan our game-plan over the weekend.”

Fenlon’s men, who have been boosted by the completion of a deal for former Middlesbrough player Curtis Fleming, aim to repeat last year’s heroics when victories over Reykjavik and Hajduk Split took them to the brink of the group stages.

Shels will be boosted by the blossoming strike partnership between Jason Byrne and Glen Crowe, who scored five of the team’s six goals against Glentoran.

Byrne built on his first ever Champions League goals in Belfast last week with another brace on Wednesday night and said: “Last year was a learning curve for me and I didn’t have that experience.

“Now I’ve put my experience of last year into this year and it was good enough to score goals in the Champions League so I am pleased.”

Of his partnership with Crowe, which came in for some criticism but has now yielded 18 goals so far this season, Byrne added: “Obviously it takes a bit of time to get going but now we are getting it together and starting to get goals.”

Defeated Glentoran boss Roy Coyle called on the Northern Ireland FA to consider following the Republic’s lead and considering a switch to summer football.

The eircom League switch has proved a resounding success and Coyle said: “I’ve said for a long time about summer football in the north, why not try it and see if it works?

“But the one thing you have to do if you’re going to think about producing summer football is to work on the pitches.

“There are an awful lot of pitches that need an awful lot of work in the north before we can begin to address that issue.”