‘The first year we took a bit of a pasting and couldn't really deal with the hostility, we had 24-hour armed guards'
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The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Rory Gaffney reveals fitness battle before leading Shamrock Rovers' title charge with crucial goals
The 35-year-old has fired Shamrock Rovers to the brink of another league title with ten goals and a relentless work ethic that has won the trust of boss Stephen Bradley RORY GAFFNEY admitted he had to sprint before he could think of another Shamrock Rovers' run. Gaffney, 35, moved the Hoops' a step closer to their fifth title in six years on Sunday night with two goals to beat Derry City at Tallaght Stadium. Advertisement 2 Rory Gaffney has ten goals in all competitions this season for the Hoops. 2 Gaffey bagged a double against Derry City on Sunday and chipped in during their Euro clash vs St Joseph's It gives them a ten-point lead at the top with ten games to go, with Gaffney a key man in that run as he has also scored pivotal winning goals against Waterford and Galway United. He has ten-goals in all competitions this season and has had boss Stephen Bradley singing his praises all year. Yet, when the season kicked off last February, Gaffney - from Tuam - was out of contract and training without pay in a bid to prove his fitness after a write-off of a 2024 season. An ankle problem meant his season ended last April, and Gaffney - who turned down two-year offers elsewhere to sign a one -year with the Hoops last year - had few options. Advertisement But Gaffney never had any doubt as he felt he just had to prove his fitness. He said: 'When you get a bit older people kind of question your age, but I lived a clean life for 10-15 years. 'I've never been a big drinker, I've always been mad into training and coming from a GAA background, you do plenty of gym work. 'I know I've been unlucky and had a lot of big injuries, but I've only had three or four muscle injuries in 10-15 years, so I've been very lucky like that. Advertisement 'I know last year I was injured but I was training non-stop, I just couldn't sprint, that was the issue. When I was sprinting I'd break down.' Eventually, he and the club decided an operation was required which ended any hopes of being involved in last year's run-in or Conference League campaign. Guehi & Eze to STAY at Palace? Transfer Blow for Liverpool & Arsenal! And Gaffney set out to get back fit and remain a Hoop. Boss Stephen Bradley revealed: 'I just trust Rory, I've known him a long time, I played with him (at Limerick in 2012 and 2013), I've known him a long, long time. Advertisement 'And Rory's…there's no grey area with Rory. He's straight down the line, he tells you what he's thinking, what he's feeling. 'We spoke (during the winter), he asked could he come back and prove himself in pre-season. 'And I said 'I'd love that', and he did. And he came back, did his work, and you could see he was ready to go. If he keeps going like that, there's another few years left in him.' Gaffney - who joined the Hoops in 2020 and was player of the year in 2022 - was also confident he would earn a new deal once he proved his fitness. Advertisement He added: 'I just knew I had to get fit. I played a game against Bohs U20s on the Friday night or Saturday night (before the season started) and just proved my fitness in that. 'I was able to run. I didn't touch the ball, but I was able to run. The gaffer saw I could run and said 'that's enough for me'. 'I haven't missed a training session since I signed this season. I haven't played a whole lot at the start of the season but I was doing a lot of extra training.' Rovers' still look after him as Gaffney - who has featured in 21 of the 27 games in all competitions when he was available - has played just one 90 minutes. Advertisement NOT DONE YET And the 35-year-old agreed with Bradley that he also believes he can continue on next season, pointing to 37-year-old Padraig Amond at Waterford as an example. He added: 'How I feel now, if it was the end of the season, there is no question that I could play again next year. 'I think it's taking it season by season but the last thing I want to be doing is travelling up and down from Galway knowing I'm not going to play, being poor in training and not impacting matches or not getting a game. 'I've had a good run at it now, I don't want to drag it on if there's no reason to.' Advertisement But Bradley insisted that Gaffney's knowhow means he can make an impact even if as he gets older having changed his game since his Limerick days over a decade ago. Bradley added: 'He was raw, Rory was all power and pace then. That's what he relied on. It was a dream to play him as a midfielder, but now his whole game is refined. 'That just comes with age, understanding, experience.' Gaffney added: 'The league was a different league back then and it was part-time and nowhere as fit, didn't train as much, never recorded games so you couldn't watch games back. Advertisement 'Now I won't be able to sleep as I can watch that game back before I go to bed and you can pick out things you haven't done well and things that have gone well and you can learn from that. 'I didn't really start watching games back until I was 26 which is crazy when you think about it but it shows how far the league has come.' And it has helped Gaffney become a firm favourite in Tallaght since arriving just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Injured in his first season, he was a key man as Rovers won four-in a row with titles added in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before he missed most of last season through injury. Advertisement And Gaffney is confident the Hoops can reclaim the title this season as they now lead second-placed Bohemians by ten points with ten games to go. TITLE CHARGE Gaffney added: 'We've 26 games played, and 52 points. That's two points a game, that normally wins the league. 'You don't want to be arrogant or disrespectful to other teams but we'd back ourselves now if everyone was starting on no points with ten games to go. 'Why wouldn't we back ourselves with a ten-point headstart, plus our goal difference? And all the teams have to play each other again, there is going to be a lot of six pointers.' Advertisement But before that, the Hoops are in European action this week as they travel to Kosovo to face Ballkani in the Conference League third round first leg. Rovers' hope to be at full strength with Graham Burke and Jack Byrne both not risked with small injuries against Derry City on Sunday.
RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Shamrock Rovers' Rory Gaffney: We'd back ourselves even without a 10-point lead
After scoring their winning goal away to Galway United back in early April, Shamrock Rovers striker Rory Gaffney said he'd be worried if he was one of the Hoops' competitors. Gaffney reiterated that sentiment on Sunday after his brace of goals delivered a 2-0 victory over Derry City, a result which pushed their lead out to 10 points with 10 games remaining in the season. Their bid for a historic five-in-a-row came a cropper last year after a chronic early summer injury crisis, which saw them fall miles off the pace. A late-season surge wasn't enough to reel in the wire-to-wire league leaders Shelbourne, who clung on to seal their first title in 18 years in dramatic circumstances. Drama may be in shorter supply in the 2025 run-in, however, with Stephen Bradley's side now overwhelming favourites to claim a fifth league title in six years and a 22nd in the club's history. "We spoke in Galway in April and I said I'd be worried if I was the other teams," Gaffney told RTÉ Sport's John Kenny after Sunday's statement win over Derry. "We were ahead of the curve. We're ahead of the curve again. We've 26 games played and we're on 52 points. Two points a game. That normally wins the league. "You don't want to be arrogant or disrespectful to any other team. But we'd back ourselves if everyone was starting on no points with 10 games to go. "So, why wouldn't we back ourselves with 10 games to go and a 10-point head start, plus our goal difference." "You don't want to be arrogant or disrespectful to any other team. But we'd back ourselves if everyone was starting on no points with 10 games to go." In the eyes of many observers, Sunday's 2-0 win over Derry slammed the door shut on the prospect of a close title race, even if Bradley sought to play down the idea. Following a strong burst of form in June, Tiernan Lynch's side had emerged as the likeliest threat to Shamrock Rovers but they've dropped points in the last few rounds and fell 11 points off the pace and behind Bohemians after the defeat on the weekend. Gaffney opened the scoring shortly after half-time, meeting Josh Honohan's cross at the back post. His second was more eye-catching, chasing Dylan Watts' ball down the left wing, cutting inside Alex Bannon and drilling a shot in off the far post. He said: "Wattsy gave me a look to say 'get on your bike'. Made the run down the side, it was a lovely ball. "I like to chop inside. He's (Bannon) a new defender to the league so he mightn't have seen that one before. He might be aware of it next time." Sunday's haul took Gaffney's tally of goals in the league to eight for the season. The 35-year old Tuam-born striker, who won the 2022 PFAI Player of the Year award, missed the vast majority of the 2024 campaign with injury and was forced to sit out the early part of this season. "I just tried to prove my fitness in January," he said. "I had a long year last year. I basically missed all of last season. I didn't want to be driving down the road from Galway, breaking down again and struggling to get to the level I needed to. "The only thoughts I had was trying to be fit and seeing if I could get back to the level that you need to be at to be a professional footballer in this league. "I'm delighted with how I'm feeling. I haven't missed a training session since I signed this season. "I haven't played a whole lot at the start of the season but I'd be doing a whole lot of extra training. "I've played one 90 (minute game) this season. I don't normally go past 60 or 70 minutes. "The last thing you want to do is pick up an unnecessary injury. Look at the bench that we have, the youth and the speed we have to come in, Michael (Noonan) and John (McGovern), I'm only happy to pass the baton onto one of them." In a commanding position in the league, Shamrock Rovers have two more rounds to navigate to the return to the Conference League league phase, which they qualified from so impressively in 2024. This week, they head for Kosovo for the first leg of their tie with Ballkani, with the winners facing the team to progress from the Larne-Santa Clara fixture. "It's a step into the unknown," he said "I don't think anyone has played a team from Kosovo before. I know a couple of their players were playing for Shkupi and Celje, teams we've come up against before. I'm sure they'll be good, they always are. "You don't know what you're going to get so there's always that bit of uncertainty in the first leg. "Over there, the weather is going to be warm. Thankfully, it's a grass pitch, not an astro this time. "We'd back ourselves that if we turn up, we'll give a good account of ourselves and be there or thereabouts. If we bring them back to Tallaght, we'll be a match for anyone."
RTÉ News
12 hours ago
- RTÉ News
'I'm in awe of them' - Alan Cawley and Keith Treacy hail Drogs
Alan Cawley and Keith Treacy have both piled praise on Kevin Doherty's Drogheda United who continue to defy the odds despite enduring more than their share of setbacks. The Drogs won the FAI Cup last year but were denied a European place because of multi-club ownership rules. The Trivela Group own the Louth club but another side under their umbrella, Silkeborg of Denmark, also qualified for this season's UEFA Conference League. In the end, it was Drogheda who missed out. Doherty then lost star man Douglas James-Taylor to Bohemians at the start of July. They've had to wait a m onth for a league game, watching from the sidelines as Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic embarked on European adventures. However last Friday's 1-0 win against Bohs at Dalymount Park typified their spirit under Doherty, even if their approach may not be for the purists. Ex-Dundalk boss Vinny Perth, appearing as a pundit on Virgin Media Sport's coverage of the game, said: "Pat Spillane had a very famous saying about 'puke football', we won't go into that too much, but it's this stuff, it's putting Bohs under pressure, long throws, just picking up seconds." On this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast Cawley and Treacy both talked up the job Doherty has done, and railed against any criticism of their style of play. "We've been giving Kevin the plaudits now for the last 12 months, since the middle of last season, keeping them in the division and then of course the cup win," said Cawley. "Since then it hasn't stopped. Everybody had them tipped to go down. "When you think of the start they had, then the question gets posed after 10, 12 games can they maintain it? People were still probably thinking, 'oh they can't'. Here we are 26 games in and they're still in the European positions. It's a phenomenal job that Kevin has done. "And I heard people even saying at the weekend, I think the phrase was used 'puke football', that's absolute nonsense. When you look at the levels in terms of the budget Kevin is operating off, compared to the likes of Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers whatever, and if you go away from home to one of those top teams, yeah you have to sit in, yeah you have be defensive. "It was a brilliant away performance. If that was a European match you'd say that's a masterclass in defending and then obviously going and nicking the result. "Kevin is doing a phenomenal job and don't let anybody else tell you that he's not." Treacy, who had a spell with Drogheda in 2015, concurred. "When you're talking about puke football, that's so disrespectful," the six-times-capped Republic of Ireland midfielder added. "I played in every division in England, and nobody ever sat me down and said, 'Keith we need to win and it has to be pretty. Half of this stuff to me is pretty. When Bolger, Keeley and Quinn are throwing their bodies on the line, blocking stuff, and running like their lives depend on it, that to me is pretty football. That's everything, that's heart-on-your-sleeve stuff. "So much modern-day football is, you're coached within an inch of your life. But if you motivate lads to run around and be together and have team spirit and chemistry, Kevin Doherty has shown you what it can do. "Anybody who tries to detract from this Drogheda team needs to have a real look at themselves. They've picked themselves off the canvas so many times. "I was talking to Kevin Doherty (before the Bohs game) and he said, 'Keith, I had to go and tell these lads they weren't playing in Europe an hour before we kicked off against Shamrock Rovers'. Drogheda took the lead in that game. "If ever you want to see if a group of lads want to play for their manager, and want to do things properly, this Drogheda bunch, I'm absolutely in awe of them. I really am. I think they've been outstanding. If they finish in and around where they are now at the end of the season, I think Kevin Doherty should be given manager of the season."
