Uefa Conference League playoffs,
First leg: Santa Clara (Por) v Shamrock Rovers,
Estádio de Sao Miguel, Ponta Delgada,
8pm Irish time – LOITV
Since 2016, Stephen Bradley has guided Shamrock Rovers through the greatest period in the club’s history.
The next step could be truly groundbreaking. If Rovers manage a draining trip to the Azores and somehow get past Santa Clara in the second leg of this Uefa Conference League playoff next Thursday at Tallaght Stadium, they will have secured European group stage football for a third time since 2022.
Meanwhile, four league titles in a row are about to become five in six seasons.
Bradley has delivered the unprecedented success during a period of unimaginable strain as his family coped with their youngest son’s Leukaemia diagnosis and subsequent treatment.
READ MORE
Last week, Josh Bradley received the all-clear. The 11-year-old rang the bell on St John’s Ward in Crumlin Children’s Hospital, a ceremonial act that signified a successful conclusion to chemotherapy.
Bradley considered quitting as the Rovers manager on several occasions over the past three years, mainly due to internal opposition, which prompted Dermot Desmond, who owns 25 per cent of the club, to criticise the behaviour of “some directors” on the members’ side of the board.
This week, Rovers and Bradley can focus on European football. And nothing else.
There is the small matter of €3.7 million in Uefa prize money for overcoming a team that finished fifth in the Portuguese Primera Liga last season.
Surely Irish football is not ready to take such a leap?
Hope springs eternal. Santa Clara are having a disastrous start to the new season, losing to Famalicão and Moreirense without scoring a goal and conceding four, which may be explained by a focus on the above-mentioned €3.7 million cheque.
Coached by Vasco Matos, a Brazilian-heavy squad squeezed past Croatia’s Varaždin before putting a poor Larne side to the sword last week.
At Tallaght last Thursday, Rovers looked as good as they ever have under Bradley to turn around a 1-0 loss to Ballkani in Kosovo with a thrilling 4-0 victory. Rory Gaffney rolled back the years, scoring twice to lead the line in a way that justified his recall ahead of the 17-year-old Michael Noonan.
Josh Honohan was superb off the left and his volley killed the tie before Graham Burke came off the bench to score the fourth.
Following an eight-hour chartered flight that included 125 fans, Burke is in line to start at Estádio de Sao Miguel as Connor Malley injured his knee, but mainly because Jack Byrne’s dispute with the Rovers management led to the Republic of Ireland international being deregistered from the European squad.
Due to the consistency of Dylan Watts and occasional brilliance of Danny Mandroiu, Rovers have not overly missed Byrne as he struggled with injuries over the past two years. But against a Portuguese outfit staring down the barrel of a disastrous campaign before it really begins, the 29-year-old’s passing range and vision could have proved the vital ingredient in an upset.
“They are a dangerous attacking team, but there are areas we feel where we can go and hurt them also,” said Bradley. “Their style doesn’t change; they have a very clear way and identity of playing. At the top end of the pitch, they have speed and are good. So whichever way you look at it, it’s a tough game.”
Bring home a draw or one-goal deficit and a special night in Tallaght could, conceivably, do the rest.
