Dessie looks back on a weekend in which Bray staged a dramatic comeback to defeat St. Pat’s, while Shamrock Rovers claimed a vital win at the Showgrounds.
This weekend was another exciting one in the Airtricity League and I was actually at the St. Pat’s v Bray game on Friday night when Bray made a magnificent comeback to win it. Pat’s did well in the first half, but Bray were a bit unfortunate to go behind when they did. When Derek Prendergast scored the own goal, it looked as if it was curtains for Bray and then it got worse when they went two behind just after the break.
All credit to them, though, they stuck well to the task and managed to fight back and win it in the end. Conor Murphy, who came on and scored two goals for Bray, was at Shamrock Rovers before moving on before the start of the season, but I didn’t know much about him to be honest. He certainly looked a good player when he came on and I also like the look of Joe Kendrick, who got the winner for Bray on the night.
It’s hard to go to the Showgrounds and get a result. I used to hate going up there and Michael (O’Neill) used to leave me out sometimes when we played there because he knew how much I hated it!
Pat Devlin seems to have Bray very well organised and they surprised me with the quality of their performance on Friday night and I think they might surprise a few more teams before the season’s out. It’s always difficult to go to Bray and get a result, but if they can play like they did on Friday night away from home, they’ll definitely cause an upset or two.
Looking at Pat’s, they didn’t have much on the bench to come on. OK, they had Stephen Bradley there after he was suspended for the first game, but Bradser aside, they didn’t have much to bring on when they needed to pull the game out of the fire at the end.
McCabe and Finn look the part for Rovers
I didn’t make it to the Showgrounds for Sligo Rovers v Shamrock Rovers on Saturday night, but by all accounts Gary McCabe, who got the winner, did very well again. As I said last week, I like the look of McCabe, and of Finn in midfield as well. I don’t mean any disrespect to the players we had last year, but I think we needed somebody that can do what Finn can do on the ball. Last week, those two lads stood out for me more than anybody, Gary O’Neill as well, and I think they will turn out to be two quality signings for Michael O’Neill.
Gary McCabe has impressed for Shamrock Rovers so far this season
It’s hard to go to the Showgrounds and get a result. I used to hate going up there and Michael used to leave me out sometimes when we played there because he knew how much I hated it! I heard that Shamrock Rovers got a bit of luck with a last minute clearance off the line, but you’d take any sort of result out of Sligo and I think Michael and Trevor Croly will be delighted with the three points and to keep the little run that they have been on at the start of the season going.
Last season Rovers got off to a bad start, but got better and better as the season went on, so it’s encouraging for Rovers to have started the season so well, but a bit ominous for the rest of the league at the same time. As I said last week, personally I think it’s going to be a battle between Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers for the title this season. They have the best squads and the best players in the league at the moment, so I think it will be one of those two that wins the league come the end of the season.
Bohs on top, Derry and Dundalk back on track
Elsewhere in the league, Derry had a good win away at UCD and I was talking to someone who was at that match who told me that Derry looked really strong, really organised and had a couple of good young players as well. They’re going to be hard to beat this season, but saying that, I heard that UCD weren’t great and as I have said before, their squad looks as though it doesn’t have a lot in it, so they might struggle a bit.
Bohs are joint top of the league after beating Drogheda on Friday night and again, it was Anto Flood who made the difference with the only goal of the game. I saw Anto play a few times when he played alongside my brother Richie at Shelbourne and Richie always had good things to say about him. He’s tall, he gets in your face and he’s a bit like Gary Twigg in that he likes to hang around the six yard box. If Bohs are going to have a good year, they need to keep him fit. They have Christy Fagan up front as well, but Flood will be vital to the team if they are going to go on a good run.
Dundalk just about got over the line with a late winner against Galway and it’s good for the league to see the so-called lesser teams like Galway and Bray putting in good performances against the bigger teams. Galway have a lot of heart and it’s the same with Bray; when they’re organised, they’re hard to beat.
Weaker teams need to pick up points while they can
It will sound like I’m repeating myself at this stage, but Galway’s starting XI at the moment is probably the best they have available to them and they will have to keep as many of their main players as possible fit, because otherwise they will struggle come the middle of the season when there’s a strain on the resources available. The likes of Galway, Bray and UCD can’t be always relying on young lads to come in and do a job when times are hard, but for now, it’s good to see them producing performances like they did at the weekend
The bigger teams won’t like meeting those sorts of teams at the start of the season when they have a full squad available to them, they’d rather be meeting them a few weeks or even a few months into the season when injuries and suspensions start to take their toll.
At the moment, they’re very hard to beat, you only have to look at Pat’s at the weekend, 2-0 up against Bray and ending up getting beaten 3-2, while Dundalk only got the winner against Galway in the last few minutes. It’s vital for the weaker teams in the league that they pick up as many points as possible at the start of the season when they have their full squads available.
Pat’s looking to strike back
Looking ahead to next weekend, Rovers v Pat’s at Tallaght Stadium is probably the big one and I’m sure when Michael O’ Neill and Trevor Croly looked at the fixtures at the start of the season, they probably would have taken five points from the first three games, but instead they’ll be looking at a maximum of nine points out of nine if they can win on Friday night.
Three wins out of three would be a big boost for the club and for the new players, so it will be interesting to see whether Pat’s can put it up to Rovers. They were one of the only teams to beat them at Tallaght Stadium in the league last year so it will be interesting to see if they can do it again.
I’ll probably go up to the game and I’m looking forward to it. Pat’s will be well up for it; every team, whether it’s Galway, UCD or whoever, up their game when they come to Tallaght. They aren’t used to playing in front of that crowd every week and at times they can be intimidated, it’s like teams going to play at Old Trafford in England.
Rovers struggled at home for a while last year, and the year before it was our home form that cost us the league. After losing to Bray when they were 2-0 up and coasting, Pat’s will be looking for a reaction and looking to get back to winning ways, but I know Michael and Trevor will have the lads up for it as well, so it should be a cracking game.
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