Finn loving life at Fingal

As he took to the pitch to warm down following Sporting Fingal’s 2-0 defeat of Galway United on Saturday, Ronan Finn was confronted with something that most League of Ireland players don’t have to deal with an a regular basis.

Just at the base of the main stand at the Morton Stadium, Finn was thronged by a dozen young autograph hunters, eager to meet the undoubted star of Sporting Fingal’s season so far.

“It’s great for the kids,” the midfielder stated, speaking after the match. “I’m so happy I made the move. There’s so much going for the club, it’s a good club to be with at the minute. Building the club up in terms of fans is the other side of things that the club needs to work on but as long as we get the points hopefully the fans will keep coming.”

Finn, the reigning First Division Player of the Year, scored Fingal’s opening goal in the 2-0 win with a 30-yard strike.

“Liam’s always on to me about shooting. He had a little word with me at half time about not shooting in the first half. He wasn’t too happy with me about that. I knew if I had a chance I had to hit the target and thankfully it went in,” said Finn.

Although he is nominally a midfielder, Finn usually plays ‘in the hole’ for Fingal behind the front two. The roles of attacking midfielders have become important to Fingal, as Finn shares the midfield with such luminaries as last season’s top scorer Conan Byrne.

Asked if he means to play in as attacking a role as he does, Finn admits that Fingal’s tactics are firmly geared towards attack.

“I think, because of the formation we’re playing I’m more of a forward with the lads up front. It’s been helpful this year having the forwards setting me up for strikes. I’m sure I’ll miss a few but hopefully I’ll score a few more.”

Commenting on the chemistry in the Fingal team, Finn says that they seem to have struck a happy balance: “There’s a good mix of youth and experience. It’s vital to have the likes of Alan Kirby and Shaun Maher, with their experience, in the team. They keep the younger lads like me from going off chasing the ball. I think you need that experience in the team.”

Fingal were dominant on Saturday, and Finn made it clear that he is happy that his side have got themselves back into contention after a few lacklustre performances earlier this month.

“I’m just delighted that we got the three points as it brings us right back into the race now. Galway are a good side and I thought they did very well in the first half but in the second half we seemed to get a grip of the game. Thankfully we got the three points.”