Uefa Conference League playoffs,
First leg: Shelbourne v Linfield,
Tolka Park, 7.45pm – Live RTÉ 2
All efforts to bend the narrative around this Uefa Conference League playoff to North versus South derby were calmly rebuffed by managers and players on both sides before Shelbourne knocked Linfield out of the Champions League in July.
Much has happened in the intervening two months, but the song remains the same.
After beating David Healy’s side 2-1 on aggregate, Shelbourne had two trapdoors to fall through to secure group phase football deep into the winter months.
They gave Azerbaijan’s Qarabag a run for their money before being relegated to the Europa League. They went and beat Croatian champions Rijeka away, only for Tony Fruk and Tiago Dantas to wallop two of the best goals witnessed at Tolka Park to turn the tie around.
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Onwards, demanded new manager Joey O’Brien, with his steady, uncomplicated approach making Damien Duff’s shock resignation on June 23rd fade from memory.
What nobody considered during the north Dubliners’ mazy run from Belfast to Baku was the price Shelbourne players might have to pay for unfurling a large Tricolour after overcoming Linfield at Windsor Park on July 16th.
“No, I don’t think so,” O’Brien countered. “Up there, coming off the pitch, they clapped us off. We didn’t get too carried away. I remember in the dressingroom, that moment, the euphoria, that’s what it’s about, that’s what you play the game for.
“I wasn’t going to tell the lads to calm down, they put too much work and effort into it, that when you win, you celebrate. It’s like Rijeka the other night, to start complaining about them celebrating, for me, that is what football is all about, celebrating when you get through and win. I’m sure next week whoever gets through will be the ones celebrating.”
The real issue is not how the League of Ireland champions celebrated with their fans in Belfast. The immediate problem is how much Linfield have improved since they were outfought in the middle of their off-season.
Besides overcoming Zalgiris from Lithuania and Vikingur of the Faroe Islands, Healy has made some astute signings, while Kieran Offord returned to score five goals in the three games.
The last time the NIFL Premiership champions visited Drumcondra, they parked the bus and forced Shels to take them apart. Ben Hall cleaned up from half-decent Shelbourne crossing before Mipo Odubeko claimed the only goal on the night.
This feels like a different ball game. Not that O’Brien is changing his tune. The same questions are continually put to him about Shelbourne being on the cusp of earning €3.8 million in Uefa prize money for reaching the Conference League proper. And it keeps being said to the players that this is the biggest moment in their careers, and the most important for the club since 2004 when a team that included Wes Hoolahan and Jason Byrne rattled Deportivo La Coruna.
“I suppose it is when you step away from it and you look at it and think, ‘what’s at stake?’” O’Brien concurred. “As the manager and the lads as players, you don’t wake up every minute of the day and say, ‘Jesus, this is the biggest game we’ve ever played’.
“You wouldn’t be able to play. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about focusing on your performance, focusing on what has got us to where we are. The level of performance over the last number of weeks overall has been really, really good. Our performance in Europe has been really, really good.
“It’s about, again, implementing that tomorrow and making sure you just focus on your performance. You come in here and you have no regrets after the game.”
When Linfield’s improved squad is flung at the former Republic of Ireland defender, O’Brien highlights the fact that Shelbourne have refused to stand still in the transfer market. Since the Champions League encounter, Dutch goalkeeper Wessel Speel arrived on loan, Seán Moore was signed from West Ham, Jack Henry-Francis from Arsenal and Seán Boyd has returned from injury.
Henry-Francis is unavailable, but Shels have the resources to own midfield through Kerr McInroy, with Ali Coote and Odubeko providing the finishing touches to a job they have already completed once.
