Cork City trip strictly business for Linfield's Ross Gaynor

Ross Gaynor has always let his football do the talking, even if sometimes it has landed him in trouble.

“When I was at Millwall, (Chelsea legend) Dennis Wise was the manager. I nutmegged one of the senior players, and Dennis went mad. He grabbed me around the throat and warned me what he’d do if I ever did it again. You learn quickly then.

“I don’t think they make him like him any more. But I’ll always be grateful to him because he gave me my first shot as a professional, and I learned a lot at Millwall.”

With such a blooding, it’s little wonder former Cork City man Gaynor has never shirked from a challenge since.

Joining Linfield, like joining Millwall as a youngster, could have weighed heavily on a player’s shoulders. Not a bit of it, says the Louth man.

“First of all, I don’t believe in all that sectarian rubbish about clubs and their supporters. I just care about playing, the football can do the talking,” says Gaynor.

“I’d heard all the negative stuff before I came to Linfield but I haven’t felt any of it. It’s been brilliant, a great club. Linfield is the biggest club in the Irish League and pretty much every club you go to up there, they hate you. It was a bit like that going to Millwall — we were ‘no one likes us but we don’t care’. I was a young Irish lad over at Millwall and the fans there looked after me. I think the same at Linfield, the Linfield faithful appreciate I’ve come to play here and have taken to me.”

Gaynor, who made a name for himself as a talented winger with Sligo Rovers, was at Cork City for two seasons, and was a popular figure on Leeside before his departure last November. He could still be there, but circumstances didn’t allow.

“My girlfriend is from Sligo and I’m from Ardee in Co Louth. Playing with City meant a four and a half hour drive for training and for matches. Eventually that just became too much.

“I had another year left on my contract in Cork but I asked the club if I could leave, and eventually they agreed. As long as it was to the right club. I had offers from Dublin and then I got the offer from Linfield.

“Belfast is only up the road, and I’ve always been up for a challenge; once I spoke to the club and the manager, I knew it was the right move.

“I had that extra year on my contract available but family is everything so it was best for me to go. I’m back living in Ardee now, so from that point of view it’s really worked out.”

He left a lot of friends in Cork. “It was sad to leave City, because we came so close to winning the title with that side. We pushed Dundalk all the way so to finish runners-up and to match them and more for 110 minutes (Dundalk’s winner from Richie Towell came in extra time, after 112 minutes) in the cup final, was heartbreaking.”

It’s been a rollercoaster six months since leaving Cork for Belfast in November.

After the heartbreak of losing the FAI Cup final with City, just six months later he lost the Irish Cup final, as Linfield were beaten by Glenavon 2-0 at Windsor Park.

“That was pretty hard to take,” admits Gaynor, an FAI Cup winner with Sligo in 2013.

The Blues are now managed by David Healy, Northern Ireland’s record goalscorer. Still only 36, Healy has a relaxed approach which Gaynor is enjoying. “It’s like he’s still like one of the lads more than the manager,” says Gaynor. “It’s been very different to playing under John (Caulfield) at Cork.

“John is pretty strict, he’s kind of old school in a way, he doesn’t take much nonsense. But he’s a very good manager, his record speaks for itself. He was very good to me, he trusted me with stuff and I appreciate what he did for me, even allowing me to leave.”

So has it been hard to adapt to playing in the North?

“I think it’s a very different to League of Ireland — it’s a lot more physical. In the League of Ireland, it’s probably a bit more technical football that’s played. You get a bit more time on the ball and get to play a bit. Up North, it’s much faster and definitely I’ve found it tougher; the first few weeks you were really getting a bruising. At Linfield we do try to play a bit as well as bringing that pressing game.”

The high tempo pressing game that Linfield bring is physically draining, and with the club currently in pre-season — their new domestic season doesn’t begin until next month — they were feeling the strain in the first leg at Windsor Park.

Nevertheless Linfield have real quality in their ranks — Paul Smith was at the Euros with Northern Ireland, as was veteran keeper Roy Carroll, who made his Linfeld debut against Cork City in the first leg.

“I think we did well to stay with Cork City for 70 minutes in the first leg,” says Gaynor. “They are in the middle of their season and are peaking around now. We’re not back playing until August so it is hard going.

“We’ve had another week’s training under our belts, and we’ll give it a go at Turner’s Cross and hopefully we can put on a performance. I think we can have a good year. Hopefully we can go on and have a very good season and win some silverware.”