‘It’s all friendly banter’: Graham Burke on his run-in with Brian Kerr
Graham Burke of Shamrock Rovers celebrates after scoring his side's first goal at Richmond Park. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
Of all the talking points to emerge from Shamrock Rovers hitting an injury-time winner against St Patrick’s Athletic, a mini-feud involving Graham Burke and Brian Kerr is certainly the most interesting.
Daniel Mandroiu may have stolen the headlines with his superb lung-busting run and composed finish in the 92nd minute to send the Hoops five points clear at the top with a 2-1 win, but it was his teammate’s celebration of his first-half equaliser that caught the eye.
After Burke flashed a left-footed shot into the near corner from outside of the box, he turned to the Camac terrace, cupped his ears, and shushed the former Republic of Ireland manager who was among a handful of club officials on that side.
“Me and Finner (Ronan Finn) were having an argument together and he (Brian) was shouting on things and all that, the thing in the game, it was just banter, I don’t know how it’s going to go down. It’s all friendly banter, I hope he doesn’t take anything by it,” Burke explained.
Kerr, who guided St Pat’s to League of Ireland titles in 1990 and ’96 and remains a devotee of the club, felt Burke "faded out of games" when he earned a call up to the international side three years ago.
The former Aston Villa trainee went on to score against the United States in that friendly in June 2018, but he insisted there was no lingering ill-feeling on his part.
“No, I know he’s a big Pat’s fan over there shouting on the lads, I heard him encouraging the lads. Balls going in behind and you can hear him, me and Finner are having an argument and he’s probably trying to get into it to rile us up or something. I just tried to rile him up [with my celebration].
“What he’s done [in football] is incredible, he’s had an incredible career himself, I hope he doesn’t take anything by it. For me, it’s just a bit of friendly banter.”
It was a Dublin derby that flowed with tenacity and seemed charged by anger both on and off the pitch.
Both benches fought their corners and decried every blow of the referee’s whistle. There were yellow cards for St Pat’s head coach Stephen O’Donnell and Rovers assistant Glen Cronin.
Chris Forrester gave the hosts a fifth-minute lead by firing a shot from 12 yards into the ground and beating Alan Mannus with the bounce.
Burke levelled before the interval and just as it seemed Rovers would have to make do with extending their unbeaten run to 32 games with only a draw, Mandroiu popped up with his second injury-time winner of the season.
It was the fifth time in 10 Premier Division games they struck an equaliser or decisive goal beyond the 87th minute, and this victory sent them five points clear of Pat’s in second place.
It was also a telling goal for Mandroiu as his renaissance continues since leaving Bohemians for bitter rivals Rovers over the winter.
The 2019 PFAI Young Player of the Year was ostracised for most of the second half of the 2020 campaign with question marks over his application.
“Everybody looking at it, you’d be thinking why isn’t Danny Mandroiu playing? He’s one of the best players,” Burke admitted.
Bradley hailed the winning goal as something special, praising the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international’s “unbelievable attitude” and for getting the fittest he’s ever been, as illustrated by pouncing on Lee Desmond’s heavy touch near the halfway line and driving into the box to finish calmly as two recovering defenders challenged him.
“Sitting in the stand, I thought he was going to run out of bit of steam,” Burke admitted. “I thought he was looking for a bit of contact for a penalty but it’s brilliant composure to do that so late in the game.”
And brilliant for Rovers, who everyone, including Brian Kerr, knows are the real deal.
Elsewhere, Drogheda United took full advantage of the off-the-field problems at Waterford FC as they hit a Blues Under-19 side for seven goals after the bottom side were forced to pull their first-team squad from the game due to a Covid-19 positive case, and a number of close contacts, while Ali Coote scored twice to ignite Bohemians’ season as they blitzed Finn Harps 4-0 at Dalymount Park.
Jaros; Mountney, Bone (Melvin-Lambert 93), Desmond, Bermingham (c) (Griffin HT); King, Lennon, Lewis (McClelland 68) (McCormack 77); Forrester; Coughlan, Smith.
Mannus; O’Brien (Lopes 49), Hoare, Grace, Finn (c) (McCann 68), Watts, O’Neill, Mandroiu, Scales; Burke (Gannon 68), Gaffney (Williams 87).
D Tomney.
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