The end game approaches
Credit:
A wrong has been righted with Shelbourne’s reinstatement into the FAI Cup. Once Sheriff YC was found to have breached the rules of competition it defied logic that the side they had wronged would not advance in their place. It’s a precedent that has long existed not just in football but other sports.
Alan Mathews has done a fine job at Tolka Park and looks destined to bring the club back to the level they deserve to be playing at. Given the choice it’s impossible to imagine that many Shels fans would put FAI Cup success over a First Division title or promotion as their preferred outcome for the 2011 campaign. We’re now left with a quarter final line up that consists of clubs that represent the great heritage that exists within Irish football, between them holding 60 places on the roll of honour since the Cup was first handed out in 1922.
Sheriff provided us with a short lived giant killing story to savour, in the process reminding some that a move to summer football has come at the cost of the days when St Francis or other minnows could dislodge what would be perceived to be their far superior opponents. There’s no place to be romantic and long for the good old days when one considers where summer football has taken us, as proven by the arrival of top level competitive European football at Tallaght last night.
The games are coming thick and fast for Michael O’Neill’s side, what odds would you get on the meeting of the two Rovers on Sunday at the Showgrounds providing this season’s Cup winners? I was amongst the group of people who were convinced that Tallaght would be celebrating back to back titles early in the final round of games this season. I couldn’t see how the squad that had been put together wouldn’t carve through those who stood before them. But, looking at how tight the battle looks like being in the run in for the title, I’m delighted to say that I was wrong.
Rovers are in the box seat, not just because of the game they hold in hand but also due to the experience that they have in getting over the line. The squad may have changed extensively in the close season but the roots of last year’s win are still present. They ground out last year’s title, stuttering over the line in the end, but after a 16 year wait fans in the Carlisle Grounds didn’t care too much for the nature in which the trophy was secured once it was destined to be in their possession for the season.
I’ve been criticised over previous articles for talking down the importance of European football but I stand by the view that we are still well off the stage where Irish teams can compete fully at this level against much better resourced opponents. I hope Rovers will prove me wrong over the games that remain in Group A of this year’s Europa League. They have smashed through a glass ceiling but I can’t see how they can sustain what lies ahead. Will a point simply arrive in the coming weeks where the reigning champions have to shelve what they’ve achieved in Europe in order to prioritise the defence of their title and ensure the big European night’s return next year? It’s a cliché but any of the top four can boast credible reasons for why they should be champions this year. Rovers face a dogfight.
While they’d all prefer to be involved over the weekend the break for the Quarter Finals of the Cup allow the teams with a weekend off to nurse late season bumps and bruises and reflect on what is needed as we enter the final six cycles of games in the top flight. The league table makes for sad viewing for Galway United fans. Speaking at the launch of the current campaign, what seems like an age ago in the Aviva Stadium, Sean Connor spoke openly of survival being the only realistic goal for his troops this year. That was before the true picture of how bad things at Terryland Park emerged.
Connor, by his own admission, is a divisive character within the league, an attribute he’s often played upon to build a siege mentality in the various clubs he has taken charge of. Most managers would have been out the door of Terryland Park long ago considering the speed at which a good squad last year was allowed to fall apart and the financial shambles that broke out. If Sean has been guilty of one thing this year it was the constant reminders through the media of how sparse the budget he was working with was and how the players at his disposal were not of a standard capable of getting a result in the top flight. Such talk has to affect morale in the dressing room. Tony McDonnell spoke on MNS last week of how a mere draw could have a massive impact on lifting heads in the West. The battle for Premier Division survival is over but a far bigger challenge off the field still has to be fought.
Alan Mathews has done a fine job at Tolka Park and looks destined to bring the club back to the level they deserve to be playing at. Given the choice it’s impossible to imagine that many Shels fans would put FAI Cup success over a First Division title or promotion as their preferred outcome for the 2011 campaign. We’re now left with a quarter final line up that consists of clubs that represent the great heritage that exists within Irish football, between them holding 60 places on the roll of honour since the Cup was first handed out in 1922.
Sheriff provided us with a short lived giant killing story to savour, in the process reminding some that a move to summer football has come at the cost of the days when St Francis or other minnows could dislodge what would be perceived to be their far superior opponents. There’s no place to be romantic and long for the good old days when one considers where summer football has taken us, as proven by the arrival of top level competitive European football at Tallaght last night.
The games are coming thick and fast for Michael O’Neill’s side, what odds would you get on the meeting of the two Rovers on Sunday at the Showgrounds providing this season’s Cup winners? I was amongst the group of people who were convinced that Tallaght would be celebrating back to back titles early in the final round of games this season. I couldn’t see how the squad that had been put together wouldn’t carve through those who stood before them. But, looking at how tight the battle looks like being in the run in for the title, I’m delighted to say that I was wrong.
Rovers are in the box seat, not just because of the game they hold in hand but also due to the experience that they have in getting over the line. The squad may have changed extensively in the close season but the roots of last year’s win are still present. They ground out last year’s title, stuttering over the line in the end, but after a 16 year wait fans in the Carlisle Grounds didn’t care too much for the nature in which the trophy was secured once it was destined to be in their possession for the season.
I’ve been criticised over previous articles for talking down the importance of European football but I stand by the view that we are still well off the stage where Irish teams can compete fully at this level against much better resourced opponents. I hope Rovers will prove me wrong over the games that remain in Group A of this year’s Europa League. They have smashed through a glass ceiling but I can’t see how they can sustain what lies ahead. Will a point simply arrive in the coming weeks where the reigning champions have to shelve what they’ve achieved in Europe in order to prioritise the defence of their title and ensure the big European night’s return next year? It’s a cliché but any of the top four can boast credible reasons for why they should be champions this year. Rovers face a dogfight.
While they’d all prefer to be involved over the weekend the break for the Quarter Finals of the Cup allow the teams with a weekend off to nurse late season bumps and bruises and reflect on what is needed as we enter the final six cycles of games in the top flight. The league table makes for sad viewing for Galway United fans. Speaking at the launch of the current campaign, what seems like an age ago in the Aviva Stadium, Sean Connor spoke openly of survival being the only realistic goal for his troops this year. That was before the true picture of how bad things at Terryland Park emerged.
Connor, by his own admission, is a divisive character within the league, an attribute he’s often played upon to build a siege mentality in the various clubs he has taken charge of. Most managers would have been out the door of Terryland Park long ago considering the speed at which a good squad last year was allowed to fall apart and the financial shambles that broke out. If Sean has been guilty of one thing this year it was the constant reminders through the media of how sparse the budget he was working with was and how the players at his disposal were not of a standard capable of getting a result in the top flight. Such talk has to affect morale in the dressing room. Tony McDonnell spoke on MNS last week of how a mere draw could have a massive impact on lifting heads in the West. The battle for Premier Division survival is over but a far bigger challenge off the field still has to be fought.
