Little margin for error in Tallaght but Bradley trusts Hoops
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O’Hanlon
Five crunch days in the Premier Division title race kick off beneath the Tallaght Stadium lights on Monday when Bohemians visit champions Shamrock Rovers with little margin of error for either (KO 8pm).
In sweeping aside Drogheda United 3-1 on Thursday, not only did Rovers rack up successive league wins for the first since early July but proved they’ve rediscovered their mojo at a critical juncture.
It is their title to lose but they face a Bohemians team that had, until Friday’s FAI Cup semi-final defeat to Waterford, won seven games on the bounce.
There’s also added edge to a derby that rarely needs it because Bohs are livid at the FAI giving Rovers 24 hours’ extra rest by rearranging the Drogheda fixture.
Their ill-judged media ban as a protest at the FAI deprives the public of hearing of their motivation to end a title drought stretching back to 2009.
Ticket sales so far point to an attendance approaching the 10,500-capacity.
The other team alongside the Gypsies three points adrift of the champions, St Patrick’s Athletic, have gone 13 years without landing the Holy Grail.
After this Friday’s set of fixtures, only two games will remain for each of the three contenders. The Saints and Bohs square off in the last of those on October 30.
“The players will do what they’ve always done,” declared Hoops boss Stephen Bradley, who will have one of his former Bohs players, Danny Grant, available after injury.
“What’s great about our group is we have real experience built up in understanding what it takes to go the long haul in a season.
“We’ve done it for so long. What comes with that is real trust and belief and understanding. Trust the process in what we do.
“We know that Bohs is a tough game but they all are between now and the end of the season.”
Once this derby is dealt with, Rovers travel to Galway United on Friday, host relegated Sligo Rovers the following week before their final-day encounter away to Dundalk at Oriel Park.
It may help that the European places are clarified since the Blues recovered from a first-half siege to catch Bohs cold at Dalymount.
As well as the top three, the winner of Waterford’s FAI Cup final against Derry City will claim the final spot, a lucrative berth in the Europa League.
European qualification is beyond both Dundalk and Shelbourne, who travel to St Pat’s on Friday.
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