Hoops head to Spain

Shamrock Rovers are off on their travels again this pre-season. They are not travelling as far as last year when they played a pre-season tournament in India but next Sunday the Hoops head to Spain for a five day training camp.

They will train at the Islantilla Resort in Huelva, with Stephen Bradley’s men set to play one game during their time in Spain. They are scheduled to take on Korean K League side Gwangju FC in the Estadio Ciudad de Lepe on Thursday 2 February at 3pm.

“It will great for the squad to bond together,” said Stephen Bradley speaking about the pre-season trip to his club’s website. “[They] get to know each other. The lads can learn about each other off the pitch which will be vital.”

The Hoops began their pre-season friendlies with a decent workout in a 4-0 win against Lucan United in Peamount’s Greenogue ground on Friday. Rovers had former Charlton Athletic academy player Sam Bone playing as centre-half on the night.

Bradley used most of his squad on Friday, making seven half-time substitutes against Lucan. The Leinster Senior League side had three time League of Ireland winner and former Hoops player 44-year-old Mark Rutherford on the pitch for the second half.

Paul Corry was the standout player on the night for Rovers. His pinpoint pass from deep in midfield set up Dean Dillon for his side’s opener. James Doona and Simon Madden added goals either side of half time for the Hoops before Sean Heaney headed home the fourth from a Brandon Miele free kick.

“He’s very good at the role he played last night,” Bradley said about Corry. “He’s similar to Stephen McPhail in a way, he controls the ball well in that area. He has a great range of passing on his left side, which is fantastic to have.”

One of the few players not to get a run out on Friday was new club captain Ronan Finn. “Ronan [Finn] just needs more time to recover as he played a longer season than the rest of the lads, so he’s still a few weeks away from being out on the pitch.

“I’ve been impressed with what Ronan does off the pitch. Spend ten minutes with him and you can see he’s a totally different player than the one that left Rovers a few years ago. He’s different in how he recovers and prepares for games. I said that when we signed him, he has the right mentality that can make you successful.

“Pre-season has been very good,” continued Bradley. “We’ve been back on the pitch for the last two and a half weeks, and it’s been good. We’ve been in the gym since December however.

“We have seen some of the work that we’ve been putting in on the training pitch come together on Friday night. There were lots of positives. I thought the lads showed some lovely patterns throughout the game, some ideas did come together. It’ll take time for us to gel together, but we saw some of it last night.”

Rovers’ trip to Spain isn’t the first time that the Hoops have spent some pre-season time there. Back in 2008 they played two scoreless draws in Marbella against Polish opposition Gornik Zabrze and GKS Belchatow. Three years prior to that they played FC Dallas in a game in La Manga.

Before flying to Spain Shamrock Rovers’ pre-season continues on Monday when they take on UCD at Tallaght Stadium at 7:30pm, with a match against Wexford Youths in Carlow IT next Friday. The club have also announced that they will play Cliftonville at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday 19 February at 3pm.