Shamrock Rovers set for Dundalk trophy lift as St Pat’s and Bohs rue what might have been

After securing a sixth League of Ireland title in seven seasons a week ago, Stephen Bradley and his Shamrock Rovers players will face a first of sorts when they visit Dundalk at Oriel Park in Friday night’s closing round of Premier Division games.

On each of their previous five triumphs, the league trophy was presented to Rovers on home soil at Tallaght Stadium. This will be the first time under Bradley that the handover is made at an away ground, with only a small smattering of travelling supporters on hand to celebrate the moment in the flesh. But that’s how the champions wanted it.

While the league were keen to give Rovers the trophy in Tallaght last Friday following the title-clinching win over Sligo Rovers that sparked a mass pitch invasion, Bradley had refused to entertain it in the build-up to that game.

“I didn’t feel it would send the right message to anyone in the game,” he said on Thursday. “I don’t believe we should be talking about celebrating something when we had nothing won. It’s easy after the fact to say you won the game, but that’s not how football works. The hardest part of winning any league is the final part.

“At the start of the season you understand it’s so far away so you don’t reach for it. But at the end, as it comes closer and closer, you start to reach and it becomes harder to get and we know that from years of experience.

“It was never going to be us planning for a celebration when we hadn’t won the league. It will be nice to go [to Oriel Park] knowing everything is done, the players can enjoy it. We haven’t lifted the trophy away from home in our previous title wins, which is interesting, so it’s a new experience for us.”

While Rovers get to parade the silverware, St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians will rue what might have been.

Both were locked in a tense title race with the Hoops until the wheels came off their respective campaigns in the final stages, with Shelbourne dishing out particularly costly defeats to both parties in back-to-back games.

Tonight, the Saints host the Gypsies at Richmond Park with far less riding on it than hoped for, but still knowing a victory would allow them leapfrog their derby rivals into second-spot in the final standings.

Sligo Rovers’ relegation from the Premier Division was confirmed three weeks ago and they entertain Derry City, hoping to finish a grim season on a small high by securing a first league win under manager Darren Purse, who took charge in July.

The priority for the Candystripes will be emerging from the Showgrounds with no fresh injury concerns in advance of their FAI Cup final date with Waterford at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday week.

Purse, the former Premier League defender with Birmingham City and West Brom, intends staying with the Bit O’Red next season in the hope of securing promotion back to the top flight.

“I’m still so disappointed we’ve got relegated,” he said on Friday. “I thought we had enough in us to keep us in the division but obviously the last 10 games didn’t work out. We’ve not ended up where I expected or wanted us to be.

“I was at Cardiff two years ago when they got relegated. Everyone was really down but it brought out the best in the club because they developed a lot of the younger players and I can see that happening here too.”

Drogheda United look certain to contest the promotion-relegation decider on November 7th against the winner of this Sunday’s First Division playoff final between Bray Wanderers and UCD.

To escape ninth spot in the Premier Division, they need Waterford to lose away to Shelbourne and then beat Galway United with an eight-goal swing to squirm free on goal difference. They need a miracle, in other words.

Like Derry, Waterford have that FAI Cup final looming large and the players are afforded one last chance to fight for a starting place when they face Shelbourne at Tolka Park.

While their top-flight status is all but assured barring a freak set of outcomes, Blues manager Graham Coughlan is chasing a result in Drumcondra to remove any doubt.

Shelbourne, though, are the form side in the league going into the final night. It took Shels manager John Russell seven attempts to win a league game following his appointment in the summer but a fifth win in six games would secure fourth place, albeit without any European football next summer.

“Our objective is to finish strong and give us momentum going into next year,” said Russell. “The connection we’ve seen in the last couple of weeks between the supporters and the team has been electric, and we can feel that something good is building. That lights a fire in me for what we can achieve next season.”

Friday night’s Premier Division fixtures (all 7.45pm)

St Patrick’s Athletic v Bohemians

Dundalk v Shamrock Rovers – live on Virgin Media Two

Drogheda United v Galway Untied,

Shelbourne v Waterford

Sligo Rovers v Derry City