Rovers heroics show what's possible

National League: For supporters of the Eircom League the most uplifting aspect of Saturday evening will not have been the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics but rather the win for Shamrock Rovers in Poland, where Liam Buckley's team upset Odra Wodzislaw with late goals from Tony and Stephen Grant.

Away wins in Europe are so rare for Irish teams that this one is cause enough for celebration in itself, but even more impressive was that the Dubliners, despite having apparently dominated the game, actually trailed briefly in the second half, when some of those present must have presumed it was going to be yet another of those hard luck stories for the league.

The work is far from finished, of course. Buckley's side must complete the job on Sunday in Inchicore, but if they do then there will be the opportunity to play Czech opposition, Slovan Liberec, in the next round with, most likely, a high-profile Spanish side awaiting the winners of that tie.

This being the Intertoto Cup, though, the league will not benefit from Rovers' achievements in terms of UEFA's coefficient rankings unless the Dubliners go all the way in the competition.

What last year's cup finalists have provided, however, is slightly overdue evidence that, with proper preparation, Irish teams can seriously benefit from the shift to summer soccer here. That Rovers can win in Poland, where they lost 7-0 on their last visit, suggests something has improved dramatically.

Had the prospect of fitter players competing in Europe been matched by a little more luck in last Friday's draws, there would be much cause for optimism heading into the forthcoming Champions League and UEFA Cup ties.

The challenge facing Bohemians gives particular cause for concern, the Dubliners handed an awkward trip to Belarus.

Bate Borisov appear to be an example of a phenomenon peculiar to smaller states of the former Eastern Bloc, where with so many local leagues starved of cash there are opportunities to buy up a club, strengthen it sufficiently by bringing in the best local players to ensure domestic honours, and then generate funds from a run in Europe and the subsequent sale of players to foreign clubs.

On the face of it there should be little enough for Bohemians to fear. They are, for a start, a considerably better team than in 1996, when they only lost to Dinamo Minsk on away goals, and this time it won't be just their opponents who are in the middle of a domestic season.

Bate are also much less experienced on the European stage. But Bohemians are still searching for something approaching their title-winning form. On that front, at least, there is good news - Bate have won just four of their opening 10 league games, suggesting they are encountering some problems of their own.

Probably the best example of a nothing club being transformed by cash injection in Eastern Europe is Maribor, who came to Derry in the mid-90s as unknowns but have since done precisely what clubs here talk about, qualified for the group stages of the Champions League and used the money generated to dominate their local league.

Maribor have just won their seventh straight Slovenian title, leaving clubs like Olimpija Ljubljana to fight over the scraps from their table. Although there wasn't much in it at the top of the table, Olimpija Ljubljana are probably much less formidable than Maribor, and Shelbourne should be in with a shout against them in the UEFA Cup.

Like many others in Slovenia, Olimpija Ljubljana have recently had to overcome major financial problems. And yet it goes without saying that Shelbourne will have to play an awful lot better than they did in last year's Champions League qualifiers if they are to get past even bankrupt Slovenians.

Derry have been handed a trip to Cyprus, where Apoel have achieved some memorable results in recent seasons. It has always seems baffling how the Cypriot league, with a smaller population base and all the other problems facing the game there (the government there has just given clubs €7 million between them to help cope with the demands of the UEFA licensing scheme), could be ranked so much higher than the Irish.

However, with the Cypriot league only starting around the time of the second leg, this might be a prime opportunity to start setting things straight - if it weren't for the fact that Barcelona visit the Brandywell two nights before the away leg.

City, of course, were saved from collapse a couple of years back by games just like the Barca one while European competition has usually cost the club money. Still, the fact club chairman Jim Roddy talked last week about travelling early the morning after the visit of the Catalan giants doesn't generate confidence.

All of that is a while off, though, so for the moment, er, come on the Hoops.