A season in the sun

CONSIDERING it began with some fearing a one-horse race and others concerned that not all the horses at the starting gate might even reach the finishing line, the season just ending in the Airtricity League of Ireland can only be judged a raging success.

That’s not to be deliberately blind to the financial worries threatening to cause long-term problems at more than one club but, on the day the First Division takes its final bow of the campaign, it is only right to acknowledge that this has been a year when the league as a whole exceeded all expectations.

Even if, because of their outstanding achievements both at home and abroad, there can be no looking beyond Shamrock Rovers as the team of the season, the Hoops had plenty of competition for plaudits across the two divisions.

In the top-flight, Sligo Rovers once again displayed a commitment to playing the kind of football which has made them the favourites of many neutrals, their reward a passage to Europe again and, for the second successive season, a place in the FAI Cup final, a trophy they will defend against Shelbourne.

That Sligo’s opponents are a Premier Division team in waiting reflects well too on a second tier which, bucking an out of date reputation for football of the more agricultural variety, served up plenty of high-class thrills and spills in the performances of not only Shels but also Cork City, Monaghan United and Limerick. Tonight’s final round of games in the First Division promises to round off that campaign in suitably exciting fashion.

For those who do succeed in going up, Derry City have already shown the way, the Foylesiders finishing in third place in the Premier Division and earning a place in Europe in their first appearance back in the top flight. That they did so with a largely homegrown side and having lost their most outstanding talent, James McLean, to Sunderland only added to the impressive achievement of Stephen Kenny’s side.

And, again, the fact it was a First Division side, Cork City, that Derry edged out in the EA Sports Cup final reinforced the sense that there was little enough to choose between the cream of the crop in both tiers.

Tonight at Tolka Park, needless to say, Cork City will be hoping to emulate Derry’s transformation from fallen giants to contenders, next season, for the biggest prize in the domestic game.

That glittering silverware was handed over to Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght last night, crowning a season in which they won back-to-back titles and the Setanta Cup whilst, literally, putting Irish football in a different league with their stunning qualification for the group stages of the Europa League.

Rovers’ 2-1 win over Partizan Belgrade in August was the stand-out moment of this or almost any other season in the history of Irish club football, a night made all the more worthy of celebration by the jaw-dropping nature of Pat Sullivan’s wonder goal and the nerveless composure with which Stephen O’Donnell converted the winning penalty.

I’m sure nothing compared with being there but an unlikely second best was to follow the action on RTÉ’s live blog, where the mounting drama of the occasion was matched by the feverish excitement of the Rovers and League of Ireland diaspora, with folk posting supportive comments from places as diverse as New York and an oil rig in the Sea of Japan.

Happily, I was on hand to witness in the flesh another great night arising out of that unprecedented achievement, as Rovers took the lead against Spurs in a packed White Hart Lane before their heroic resistance finally crumbled in the face of the Premiership side’s onslaught.

But perhaps the most admirable thing about Rovers in Europe is that while, as expected, they have frequently found themselves under the cosh in their group games, they have responded to the daunting challenge not only with grit and discipline but also with a desire to play good, controlled football whenever they get the chance.

For some other clubs, however, the future looks much less rosy. As Rovers clinched the league again this week, their supporters were gleefully airing a recent favourite, a ditty which goes, “The Hoops are having a party and Bohs are going bust”.

There might be little point in suggesting to football fans that they drop schadenfreude from their weaponry but the reality is that even the Rovers hardcore would lose out if the greatest of their domestic rivalries were to be diluted. Pat Fenlon and his team deserve much credit for remaining competitive under already difficult circumstances this season but it looks like the biggest battles for another famous old club are still to come.

It’s a reminder that there could yet be some dark days ahead for the League of Ireland but, for now, all concerned are entitled to bask in the final rays of a season in the sun.