Owen Heary: Taking Shels job 'was a no-brainer'

On Friday evening, the new Shelbourne manager Owen Heary took charge for the first time following his appointment earlier in the week as the Reds ended a run of four consecutive league defeats with a 2-0 victory over promotion rivals Cobh Ramblers at Tolka Park.

Despite struggling to create opportunities in the opening 45 minutes, Heary’s side broke the deadlock less than 90 seconds after the break when James English fired home his eighth league goal of the season.

Aidan Collins completed a dream start for the Shels boss, who received a warm welcoming before kick-off.

“I got a good reception when I went out on the pitch” Heary told the assembled media after the game.

“I was delighted with that, but it wasn’t about me tonight – it was about Shels getting the three points. Cobh were seven ahead of us going into the game tonight so it was important that we won and got ourselves back closer to them, so that was the aim.

“First half we were a bit nervy, but second half I thought we came out all guns blazing – closed down high, pressed high.

“Fellas worked really hard and you can see that at the end with a couple of them getting a bit of cramp. I thought overall they put in a shift and they got the result.”

Before Friday’s game, Shelbourne trailed third placed Drogheda United by seven points and after UCD’s loss to Limerick on Saturday evening the Reds now find themselves five points adrift of the play-off.

Heary explained that his side cannot afford a slip up with big games ahead against Drogheda, UCD and Limerick after they play Athlone Town and Cabinteely.

Asked if it was too late to make a run for the play-offs, Heary indicated there's still plenty of time to get back in contention.

“That’s the one thing that we said tonight going into the game – we can’t draw games really, we can’t lose games – we have to win to try get back into the promotion chance and that win [against Cobh] puts us back in a little bit closer.

“We are not too far off them, but [if] you go out next week and you draw, then you’re right back down again so it’s important that we try maintain the discipline, the focus and the desire into the next game.

“It's a challenge and one myself and Liam [Kelly] is looking forward to. We are going to be playing the teams that are looking for promotion as well.

So for us, we’ll enjoy tonight, but then we get back down to business on Monday and start training again for the next game, making sure that we have our tactics right and try win that game.

“If we can get a little bit of momentum and if we can get a few wins under our belt, we’ll see where we are with five/six games to go and hopefully we’ll be there or thereabouts.”

Heary had spent a brief spell with the Shelbourne Ladies side who, when he took over, many had written off in the hunt for League glory.

However the Shels boss, along with Mark Leavy and Keith Hennessy, turned the girls' fortunes around, reaching the league play-off and winning the League Cup after defeating UCD Waves 3-2 at Tolka Park.

“It was really enjoyable with the ladies team. We took over they had seven, eight games to go they were out of the running for the league and we managed to get them into a league play-off in the end.

“Unfortunately they lost out 2-1, but we won the League Cup so it was a successful season for them, and I think this year now they are going to push on and hopefully they’ll win the league.”

After playing alongside Kevin Doherty at Shels from 2001 to 2005 , the 39-year-old struck up a strong friendship with the central defender and he told Extratime.ie that while it was a “no brainer” to take the job, he spoke with Doherty before accepting chairman Joe Casey’s invitation.

“Once Joe [Casey] gave me a shout, he said ‘Kevin stepped down’. It’s unfortunate. I like Kevin, I spoke to Kevin when he stepped down, but it was his own decision.

“That’s what he decided to do and when I told him Joe rang me he said ‘you’d be mad not to take it,’ and that’s when I said I was going to take it straight away.”

Heary won five Premier Division crowns and one FAI Cup with Shelbourne, and also captained the Reds into the third round of the Uefa Champions League during the 2004/5 season where they hosted Spanish giants Deportivo La Coruna in front of 25,000 fans at the old Lansdowne Road.

The manager is hoping that Shelbourne can now return to the Premier Division and rebuild the fan base they once had during their successful days.

“The crowd is massive for the team. They push the team on – you heard them there tonight [Friday] shouting and roaring for the team to do well.

"If they do that, it spurs the team on and, look, we all want to push in one direction and that’s to get to the Premier [Division].

“So if the crowds come in and back the team and the team do it on the pitch, hopefully we can all go in the one direction and get into the Premier.

“If we get into the Premier you have the big Dublin Derbies week in week out that Shels should be playing in so it’s important that we try get there.”