SOCCER: Shelbourne manager Pat Fenlon is hoping his own experience of games in Bucharest is not repeated when his side take on Steaua Bucharest in the Champions League second round tie at Ghencea Stadium tomorrow evening.
A goalless draw at Tolka Park last week means Shelbourne arrived here knowing that scoring once would, if not assure them of a third round tie with Rosenborg, certainly give them a fighting chance.
But Fenlon knows what can happen, with two bad experiences during his playing days. In 1990, Fenlon was part of the St Patrick's Athletic side that earned a creditable 1-1 draw with Dinamo Bucharest in the home leg, before being destroyed 4-0 in the away leg.
Two years later, Fenlon returned to Romania with Bohemians, this time to face Steaua after a goalless first leg at Dalymount Park, only to again return after a 4-0 drubbing.
Romania has changed a lot in the intervening years as it climbed out of communism after the collapse of the Nicolae Ceausescu regime, though Fenlon is unsure whether their football has. And he knows Shelbourne will have to be at their best to avoid an unwanted hat-trick.
"The first time I was here with St Pat's, in 1990, was unbelievable. It was only eight or nine months after Ceausescu had been deposed and executed. There was nothing in the place.
"It had changed a bit by the time I went back in 1992 with Bohs, but not a lot. There was perhaps a little bit more money about, but not like now.
"We got draws in Dublin before getting tanked away when I played against Romanian sides. The Bohs one was the better one. With St Pat's, we had a bad start. We were 3-0 down within 20 or 25 minutes.
"With Bohs, we were holding them to 0-0 and we had a great chance when Joe Lawless went through on his own but he missed it. They scored soon afterwards and we caved in.
"We haven't progressed as much as Romanian football has since then. If you look at Steaua's team (last week), they had quality all over the park. They had a young left back who was only 20 but he looked like a seasoned campaigner.
"If we were to throw a 19 or 20-year-old into a European game, he would struggle badly. If you look at the likes of Owen Heary and that, he is now an established player but probably could have been at 20 rather than 25.
"We have closed the gap in a fair few things. In preparation and attitude and all of that sort of stuff, we are definitely miles ahead compared to where we were in 1990 or 1992."
It is one of the exceptions to Fenlon's belief young players are not ready for Europe, Wes Hoolahan, on which Shelbourne's hopes of getting the required result will rest.
Hoolahan missed last week's tie through illness and returned to training only three days ago. But he is likely to start if he proves his fitness, meaning Jason Byrne or Richie Baker will make way as Shelbourne stick with just one player, Glen Crowe, up front.
Fenlon's spies were in Romania on Sunday evening to watch Steaua blow a 2-1 lead to lose 3-2 to Dinamo Bucharest in the Super Cup final, and Fenlon admitted that reports suggested Steaua are not as strong as initially thought.
"The one thing I did learn was that after the 12 or 13 players, they don't have a lot that is an awful lot better than us, so hopefully they pick up a few injuries."
