Mulraney and Duff have eyes on league prize at final turn

The closest League of Ireland season in years is going down to the wire.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT: Shelbourne head coach Damien Duff applauds fans. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady

Title decider night is a fortnight away but Friday carries the potential for some contenders to slip away.

A cigarette paper separates five teams heading into the final three games – four points between leaders Shelbourne down to St Patrick’s Athletic and Galway United.

Defeat for either in their meeting at Inchicore, coupled with a Shels win over Waterford in Tolka Park, would end their fairytale title prospects.

Saints were hovering above the relegation zone in the summer before hitting their recent form of six wins on the bounce. John Caulfield’s Tribesmen are back in the Premier Division for the first time since 2017.

This will be the penultimate occasion of all 10 top-flight teams playing simultaneously.

European Conference League commitments in Belfast on Thursday means Shamrock Rovers must delay their trip to Dundalk until the evening of Sunday week.

Dundalk will be officially relegated by then unless they beat Derry City on Friday, or Drogheda United lose at home to the Hoops.

At the top, Damien Duff’s Shels have led the way since early in the season, Derry shadowing them, and their meeting on the final night of November 1 at the Ryan McBride Brandywell could still unravel as the decisive clash it’s long been flagged as.

Yet their stumbles in the second half of the season have allow Rovers, St Pat’s and Galway enter the mix.

“The way the league is shaping up, I think anyone could nick it,” said Jake Mulraney, the St Pat’s winger, awarded the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month award.

“Form in this league is massive and momentum is huge. We're playing teams around us in the last three games. It's massive that we're in good form coming into these final three games. Anyone can do it, so why can't we?

“It would probably help if there were five or six games left, which is probably the reason why we're flying under the radar a bit. It's been a mad old league and I think anyone could take it.” 

European qualification spots, worth multiples of domestic prize-money, are also at stake. Should Derry fulfil their favourites’ tag in the FAI Cup final against Drogs on November 10, fourth in the table will seal entry into next year’s Conference League.

Waterford’s slump has dashed hopes of a first trip around the continent since 1984 but they can still have an influence in the destination of the title.

As well as Shels on Friday, they’re back in Dublin to visit Rovers on the final night.

“Some of Waterford’s players left but they’ve got lads with great ability - and a manager who knows the league so well,” Duff said about Keith Long’s Blues.

As a two-time English Premier League title winner with Chelsea, he’s experience of tense run-ins. His primary message to players is dodging the external developments, relieved that a first Reds crown since 2006 is within their own hands.

“If you’re looking at a score elsewhere, you are not focusing on our game and our jobs that we are in control of,” explained the Ireland centurion.

“There’s been plenty of times this season where I’ve only found out the results after.

“Sometimes you hear about it from someone near the dugout or sense goals happening elsewhere from the roar of the Riverside Side but all our focus should be on our own performance."

Composure and holding their nerve has been the theme of his pep talks during their two-week break.

"Just bring your energy and bring your quality,” he said ahead of an anticipated Tolka sell-out.

“What I tell the players is that I want them to perform. We’re all in this together—myself, the staff, and the fans. Everyone needs to show up. It’s an incredibly exciting time.

“If anyone’s feeling nervous, now isn’t the time for that, nor for looking elsewhere or dreading these games.

“I can’t wait, and the players can’t wait either. These are the moments to be savoured."