Byrne off to a flying start with Raheny

It was a dream start for new Raheny United manager Sean Byrne on Sunday, as the Northsiders went level with Peamount United at the top of the Women’s National League thanks to a confident 4-0 win over Shamrock Rovers.

“We’re very happy with the result” said Byrne, speaking to Extratime.ie after the match. “We felt that if we played a bit more direct, we’d get more goals. So in the first game on the job, you couldn’t really ask for more.”

United looked a different side under Byrne, with a more direct attacking approach being preferred to that taken by  his predecessor Ger McDermott.

“We were just working on things during the week,” he said, “Ger has a brilliant squad here. Myself and [Assistant Karl O’Shaughnessy] have different ideas on the game, but we both feel that the way we played today was more direct and we got the goals out of it.”

Although he comes into the job with no managerial experience at a WNL club, Byrne knows several of the Raheny squad already through his work with the FAI.

“I worked on the Emerging Talent programme for the last five years so I’d know a lot of the younger girls, I’ve been to a lot of games here. I’m really happy with the squad we have, so I don’t think I’m going to go out chasing players.”

“I am from Raheny originally, I still live in Ayrfield which is only down the road and my cousin played with the club for a long time, so I’d have a bit of a connection with the club.”

Byrne is confident that his side can push on and reach the top of the WNL. With a game in hand, Raheny could be three points clear of Peamount when the two sides meet on January 20th.

“I’m looking forward to the game, it’s a big challenge for us to play them,” Byrne says of the upcoming derby. “The girls want to play against them and they have a good record against them.“

“You don’t take on a job unless you think you can be successful.”