You’d think that a last gasp winner in a European tie would send a footballer’s ego into orbit. But Shamrock Rovers’ forward Tony Grant has his feet firmly planted on the ground and is already plotting the downfall of Polish side Odra Wodzislaw on Sunday. It was a long time coming, but the striker has re-discovered his Midas touch in front of goal after last-gasp finishes against St. Patrick’s Athletic in the eircom League and Odra in the InterToto Cup tie last weekend. The 82nd minute strike against the Poles was one straight from the Roy of the Rovers manual. But Grant is quick to point out that the strike will be worthless should the Hoops fail to progress after Sunday’s second leg in Richmond Park. Grant recalls: “We went one down before Stephen Grant brought us back on level terms. My goal came about from a through ball over the top from Shane Robinson. I managed to beat a couple of defenders before I was one-on-one with the keeper and I slotted the ball home under his body. It was a real feeling of jubilation when I saw the ball go in. I just had to be with the fans at that moment, to thank them for all the support they’ve given me over the last few years. I felt that we merited the win but they’re a dangerous side, particularly on the break. In saying that, we thought that they were a bit complacent and under-estimated us – which played into our hands. We passed the ball around and created a lot of chances.” Since he was signed from Glenavon in August 2000 by former Hoops boss Damien Richardson after impressing in a pre-season friendly, Grant has developed a reputation as one of the most honest and consistent performers in the Shamrock Rovers side. “I never doubt my own ability and as a forward that’s one of the most important things,” the 26-year-old said. “An injury-free run over the last five or six weeks has built up my sharpness in front of goal and I’ve been pleased with my own form of late.” However the Balbriggan native admits to being frustrated by a sluggish start to this campaign, and is now very keen to make up for lost time. “I’ve had a nightmare time of it for the last six months or so after a series of niggling injuries that I wasn’t able to shake off. The medical staff at the club really looked after me and – touch wood – I can get back to the kind of form that I know I’m capable off.” He is fulsome in his praise for manager Liam Buckley, and he believes that he deserves great credit for Rovers’ victory. “Liam go it tactically on Saturday. There’s great competition in the squad. Up front alone you’ve got Trevor Molloy, Glen Lacey and Liam Kelly which means that you always have to be on top of your programme.” Last weekend’s visit to Poland afforded some of the squad an opportunity to visit Auschwitz Concentration Camp, but he was thankful that he missed an excursion to one of history’s worst atrocities. “I would have liked the opportunity to visit Auschwitz, but in hindsight I’m glad Liam kept the squad away from it. Some of the directors visited the camp and found the whole experience really disturbing. Most of them had to leave after 20 minutes.” With a golden opportunity to etch a lasting place in the club’s history, Grant remains focused on the job in hand and is confident that Rovers can make the next round of the InterToto Cup. “This tie isn’t over. Make no bones about that. They’ll be hurting after last weekend’s defeat, but we have to remember it will be 11 human beings against 11 on Sunday. We have to have the belief in ourselves to go out there and win. We’ve shown great fighting spirit in recent weeks when we beat Drogheda and St. Pat’s in the final moments of close games. Last weekend’s success gives the entire eircom League a boost, because in the past sides were sometimes guilty of succumbing to reputations. The inferiority complex with European teams and Irish sides has now hopefully gone.” As to that goal – where would it rank in the prolific forward’s career? “As it stands now, it wasn’t the most important goal of my career. But it might just be if we manage to go through on Sunday.”
When trying to choose the best of an Irish team in competition, there are certain criteria that must follow. Firstly, away victories are generally accorded more weight because home advantage is such a powerful part of a team’s confidence. For example, while Cork City held Bayern Munich to a draw in 1991 and Athlone Town held AC Milan to a scoreless draw in 1975, neither team managed to make any impact away from home. Glasgow Rangers were also humbled by Bohemians in Dalymount in 1984, but again the away leg proved a step too far. However, the second and perhaps the most important part of gauging a victory was, is the strength of the opposition. While Rovers have hammered teams from Iceland and Luxemborg, they are unlikely to be called ‘scalps’ without a degree of embarrassment. A club with some European history from a major soccer league can certainly count as a ‘scalp’ – and one man that can speak on this subject is Trevor Molloy. Molloy has tasted more European success than most Irish players, having been part of teams that were victorious in Aberdeen, Kaiserslautern and of course Wodzislaw, Poland. Bohemians victory against Aberdeen in the UEFA Cup in 2000 ended in exactly the same result as Rovers’ recent victory in Poland and the Dubliners went on to complete the job holding the Scots to a 1-0 win on Tolka Park. Molloy was also part of the Bohs squad that defeated Kaiserlautern in Germany in September 2000. When asked how he would judge Rovers’ result in Poland in the list of Irish victories in Europe he leaves the answer to a Polish reporter: “Stephen Grant was interviewed by a local journalist after the match in Poland and the guy asked him what he thought of the ‘biggest shock in Polish football history’ – so it is obviously a big result for them. In that respect I think that result has to go down as one of the best ever. In fact, because it’s the most recent, I’d say the best result.” Molloy was not as instrumental in last Saturday’s victory as he was in Aberdeen, but he enjoyed it as much, if not more. “The Aberdeen game was a great win, and I scored the winner over there too so it was quite special. But it was totally different to the Polish result. I only got to play 15 or 20 minutes in that game and I played the full game in Scotland. The fans in Poland though were amazing – there was as least 250 of them there and they never stopped singing. It was the first club I ever played for as well so it meant more for me in that respect.” Looking ahead to the opportunity to create another great day in Rovers’ long European history, Molloy is confident, but insists they won’t be complacent even if they’re playing great football right now. “They’re a good side and they played some great football but didn’t create many chances. Their top forward Michal Chalbinski, was on the bench so they underestimated us a bit but I’m sure he’ll start on Sunday. We really want to go through on Sunday because we’re not far off. We’re a good side and we want another go in Europe.”
Shamrock Rovers will be on the lookout for a new assistant manager following the decision of John Tracey to quit the club. Tracey, who has been the No.2 with Rovers since Liam Buckley took over the club, did not travel with the side to Poland last weekend for their sensational InterToto Cup success over Odra Wodzislaw and finally decided to part ways with the club yesterday. Rovers’ head coach Larry Maloney and Ballymun United manager Noel Synottt have been touted as possible preplacements.
The community of Tallaght has a right to know when Shamrock Rovers stadium will be fully completed, TD Charles O’Connor (FF) has stated. He said the County Council has always been very supportive of the stadium project since giving it the go ahead in 1999. However four years later people are still waiting for the completion of this stadium and the Council and community needs to be told what is happening.
Bohemians have called on their fans to become Shamrock Rovers supporters for a day next weekend and back the Hoops in Europe – while hoping that Rovers fans will do the same when Bohs are in European action next month, writes Aidan Fitzmaurice. Bohs and Rovers have been Dublin’s big rivals for the past few decades, but Bohs secretary Gerry Cuffe today appealed for Bohs fans to go along to Richmond Park next Sunday for the second leg of their InterToto Cup Tie against Odra Wodzislaw and do the unthinkable, cheer on the Hoops. “There is great rivalry between Bohs and Rovers and at times there has been no love lost, but the Rovers result on Saturday night was just a win for them, it was a win for the whole league,” says Cuffe. “I would like to see Bohs fans going along to support Rovers at home to Odra in Richmond on Sunday and I would like to think that some of the Rovers fans will come along to Dalymount Park when we play Belarussian side BATE Borisov, in a couple of weeks. When it comes to Europe I think all rivalry should go out the window and teams should support one another. An Irish club winning in Europe gives the whole league a boost. We had great support from other clubs when we had our good European run in 2000, when we knocked out Aberdeen from the UEFA Cup and then won away against Kaiserslautern.
Shamrock Rovers buried the ghosts of their last European embarrassment and made history by becoming the first ever Irish club to win an away tie in the InterToto Cup thanks to some Grant aid. Rovers are firmly in the driving seat ahead of Sunday’s second leg tie at home to Odra Wodzislaw after Saturday’s 2-1 win in Poland as they came from a goal down to record a superb win, with goals from Stephen and Tony Grant, the first time an Irish side have won away from home in the competition after 13 attempts. Once they don’t make a mistake in the home leg on Sunday, Rovers will take on Czech side Slovan Liberec in the next round, with a potential money-spinning tie against a Spanish club awaiting the winners of that game. It all added up to a memorable trip for Rovers, who were hammered 7-0 the last time they played in Poland, and for manager Liam Buckley, who lost 10-0 on aggregate in his last European venture as manager with St. Patrick’s Athletic in 1999. This was the first test of the notion that the eircom League’s move to summer soccer would boost results in Europe, and for Buckley the evidence was on the pitch. Rovers who had 11 league games under their belts before the game, came away with a win despite going a goal down, while Odra, who were back for this game just two weeks after the finish of the Polish season, were caught out. “To go from losing 7-0 to winning 2-1 is some achievement. This is only one result but it does show what a difference summer soccer can make,” says Buckley. “For years we had to battle with fitness, it was a real problem. CONVINCING
”Everyone knew how difficult that made it but it was some job convincing the public. But this time around we were in much better shape and that was probably a key factor.” Odra took the lead with 15 minutes to go with a goal from Marcin Nowacki who hammered his shot past Barry Ryan. Before the goal, Rovers had been on top for much of the game with Tony Grant and Shane Robinson both passing up good chances while Terry Palmer saw his effort hit the crossbar. After falling behind, Rovers kept their composure and equalised when Stephen Grant slotted home Tony Grant’s cross 13 minutes from time for an away goal. It got better for Rovers six minutes later when Tony Grant embarked on a run from the halfway line beating two defenders before slotting the ball past Mariusz Pawelek.
Odra Wodzislaw 1 Shamrock Rovers 2 ELATED FITNESS FAVOURED
A Saturday night Grant slam leaves Rovers on the verge of claiming a place in the second-round of the InterToto Cup. Stephen Grant’s 77th minute equaliser and an 83rd minute winner from namesake Tony stunned the Polish hosts in the southern Silesian town of Wodzislaw. Roared on by almost 100 fans in a crowd of 3,200, the Hoops’ latest late late show gives Liam Buckley’s men an invaluable first-leg lead ahead of Sunday’s return at Richmond Park. A week earlier, Tony Grant’s 86th minutes strike earned Rovers all three eircom League points against St. Pat’s, while Trevor Molloy and Glen Fitzpatrick were on target in the final 10 minutes a fortnight ago in the 2-1 victory at Drogheda.
An elated Buckley afterwards paid tribute to his players – the first Rovers team to win on foreign soil since Buckley played in Jim McLaughin’s outfit, who thrashed Iceland’s Fram Reykjavik 7-0 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup in 1982. “I’m as proud as punch for the players, club and our supporters,” declared Buckley as he reflected on the first ever victory by an Irish club over Polish opposition. “This is a great achievement by the club and on that was fully merited, even if we got a rub of the green on a few occasions. We scored two great goals, defended well and our preparation for the tie by coming out here on Thursday proved crucial. It’s just mega for the club.” The Rovers boss believes the change to summer football plus his club’s attention to detail paid a handsome reward. “There’s no doubt that the fact we have played two months of our league campaign was a major help,” he said.
“Our fitness levels were also first class and that’s an aspect of the club that is very pleasing. That could be seen by the fact that we defeated Drogheda and St. Pat’s with late goals, and it turned out that way again.” Buckley feels that Rovers also cashed in on Odra’s complacency. “The talk in Wodzislaw was all about playing Liberec in the second round. I think they took their eye off the ball whereas we were totally focused on the job at hand.” However, Buckley urged a degree of caution ahead of Sunday’s return clash in Inchicore. “The job is only half done and it’s right to say it’s just half-time in the tie. We must not let this advantage slip away.”
On the evidence of this first leg Rovers must be favoured to advance and so mirror St. Pat’s achievement in reaching the same stage 12 months ago. Pat’s narrowly exited at the hands of Belgian side Gent. Only a rare error by Richie Byrne, who slipped, allowed Marcin Nowacki to fire Odra into a 74th minute lead. Rovers’ response was immediate, with Tony Grant setting up Stephen Grant to level in the 77th minute. Not content with an away draw, Buckley threw on Trevor Molloy for Fitzpatrick. And the bold move paid off handsomely when Tony Grant raced from the half-way line and shrugged off the attentions of two Odra defenders before beating keeper Mariusz Pawelek with a low drive. Molloy’s introduction means that he has now figured in two away European victories by eircom League clubs – he scored the winner from the penalty spot when Bohemians defeated Aberdeen 2-1 in the first leg of the UEFA Cup tie at Pittodrie in 2000. Rovers also join Bohs – who also defeated Kaiserslautern away that season – and Shelbourne in earning recent wins on foreign soil. On a personal level for the Hoops boss the result is a massive endorsement, just four years after his St. Pat’s side lost 10-0 on aggregate to Zimbru of Moldova in the qualifying round of the Champions League. And the game will also help erase the memory of Rovers’ 8-0 UEFA Cup defeat to Poland’s Gornik Zabrze in 1994. Sunday’s second leg will definitely go ahead at Richmond Park despite a weekend bid by St. Pat’s to force the tie to another Dublin venue.
Odra Wodzislaw: Pawelek, Myszor, Clos, Jankowski, Grzyb (Sakek 85), Jarosz, Ziarkowski (Chalbinski 31).
Shamrock Rovers: Ryan, Gough, Palmer, Byrne, Keddy, Robinson, Colwell, Reynolds, S. Grant, T. Grant, Fitzpatrick (Molloy 78).
It’s twenty years since Shamrock Rovers made progress to the next round of a European competition, but the Hoops travel to Poland later this week full of hope ahead of their InterToto Cup campaign. Rovers take on Odra Wodzislaw in the first leg in Poland on Saturday and manager Liam Buckley hopes that the eircom League’s switch to a summer season will start to show results on the field in European competition. “In some ways we should have an advantage as we have played 11 league games and the Polish team only finished their season two weeks ago, they haven’t even had a pre-season yet,” says Buckley. “But we will take nothing for granted and I’m not going to say that we need to come back from Poland with a win, the main thing I want is for the tie to be still alive for the second leg in Richmond Park on Sunday week. They may have a problem because the season is just finished while we are mid season, but Odra are a good team.” TOUGH FIRST TEST
“They only finished four points behind Wisla Krakow who won the league, and they will be a tough team to beat.” Rovers last won a round in Europe back in the 1982/83 UEFA Cup campaign, when they beat Reykjavik before losing to Universitea Craiova of Romania. They narrowly lost to Turkish side Altayspor when making their InterToto Cup debut in 1998 and last August were knocked out of the UEFA Cup at the first hurdle by Swedish club Djurgardens. While concentrating on the league campaign, which has seen Rovers move into second place (ah no Aidan not you as well!) in the table thanks to Friday’s win over St. Patrick’s Athletic, Buckley has been doing his homework on the Polish opposition. He has obtained some video footage of Odra in action and will spend the week preparing his players for the tie before Thursday’s flight to Wodzislaw, a club from the Silesian area of Poland, near the border with Slovakia. Founded in 1922, Odra spent most of their lifetime in the lower leagues of Polish soccer and have never won a trophy in their history. They will take on Rovers in an 8,000 capacity stadium. Boasting an injury free squad, Rovers will be boosted by the fact that most of the squad are Euro veterans, having played in a UEFA Cup less than a year ago.
But this is the first test of the notion that Irish results in Europe should improve because of the move to summer soccer. Says Buckley:” It should be an advantage to us. The Polish club come into this game the same way we would have a couple of years ago, only into pre-season with a couple of friendlies to prepare for Europe, whereas this year we have played a full round of league games as well as a few matches in the League Cup. Playing competitive games gives you an edge you just can’t get from friendlies. There are no guarantees, because Odra will be a tough team to beat, but we will be better prepared.” Irish clubs have not fared well in the InterToto Cup since the competition was introduced in 1995. But last summer St. Pat’s made an impression, beating Croatian opposition in the first round before narrowly losing to Belgian side Gent.
Tony Grant’s goal drought ended on Friday – and the Shams striker admitted he has never been so relieved. Grant, 26, went six months without a goal until he smacked in the ugliest strike of his career to win the Dublin Derby against St. Pat’s on Friday night. It was his first goal of the season – in his first since January 3, when he netted against Bray Wanderers. And for a striker who has blazed a trail in his first two seasons with the club, these last two seasons have been harrowing times. Injuries have affected his fitness, confidence and form. Friday’s was only his fourth league goal since April 2002. Grant said: “I haven’t had the best of runs, I know that, but the last six months have been nightmarish. I picked up a bad knock last season on my left leg and since then I have suffered setback after setback. For six months I was playing in pain when I wasn’t fit. It affected my form and I only managed to complete 13 games last season. Of late things have been better. I’ve had five games on the trot where I’ve lasted the 90 minutes and I feel I’m coming back to where I was when I first joined Rovers.” RELIEF
“But still it was a massive relief to score again. While I’ve been steadily improving week after week, you need to score. So to do it in such an important game was great. It wasn’t the prettiest goal you will ever see, but I don’t care. They all count.” The goal lifted Shams to second spot, (eh no Garry, we were already in second place before the game!) just a point off leaders Shels. And Grant feels Shams can stick the pace. He said: “The three full-time clubs - Shels, St. Pat’s and Bohs – clearly have an advantage over us. But we’ve enough quality here to mount a challenge. There’s a long way to go, but come the end of the season, I don’t think we’ll be too far away.”
Shamrock Rovers have stunned the club with talk of a mass walk-out. The stars will hold a strike ballot next week. But the club insists a row over cash bonuses will be sorted out in time to stave off a potentially disastrous public battle. The Rovers players plan to meet in eight days time to discuss ‘financial matters’ that have been ongoing from last season. And on the agenda is a move to vote to decide if they should strike over the matter. However Rovers chairman Tony Maguire insisted yesterday that the financial dispute between the club and the players would be resolved quickly. Maguire said: “I don’t think we will get to a stage whereby the players will need to have their meeting. Until yesterday I was unaware that this meeting was planned. Now that I do know about it, I will contact the PFAI representatives and arrange to meet with them. And I can assure you that whatever difficulties there are will be resolved quickly.” BONUS
“In any case the problems are not of a major nature. Some bonus payments are owed to players from last year.” No Rovers player was prepared to comment at this stage about their specific grievances. But the club’s PFAI committee members have informed the rest of the squad about next week’s meeting. PFAI secretary Fran Gavin said: “This meeting will be to discuss outstanding financial matters, some of which have been ongoing since last November. I don’t know what the Rovers players are going to do. Them players, to be fair to them, understand the club’s difficulties in trying to run a business while they are also trying to get money together to get into their new stadium. It is to the player’s credit that they have not let this problem with outstanding payments affect them on the park. But they feel the need to have a meeting to try and resolve the issues affecting them. One of the items on the agenda is to hold a ballot to strike or not. However I don’t know if they will go down that road. It is just one of the many options that they may have. This matter is serious. It is in the hands of the chairman to resolve it.”
While the rest of the eircom League puts its collective feet up for a fortnight, Shamrock Rovers are off to Poland on international duty. Some clubs are taking full advantage of the break for the Special Olympics. But Bohemians and Longford are off to training camps in the sun while Rovers remain at work. The Hoops, who qualified for the InterToto Cup after finishing third in last season’s championship, face an awkward trip to Poland for next Saturday’s first round tie. “The team we’re playing is called Odra,” says Hoops’ boss Liam Buckley. “And while their name is unfamiliar, we can expect a very difficult time over there.” Polish club football may lack the glamour of a crack Italian or Spanish side, but Buckley realises that Rovers’ opposition will be of a very high standard. “They finished fifth in the league, a point behind Legia Warsaw, who are quite an accomplished side. On the plus side for us, these games are coming at a good time, as we’re well into our season and the team is more or less settled. We’ll be well prepared. Odra are just after finishing their season, so hopefully they’ll be a little tired, as they have had to keep going in preparation for the InterToto Cup. I’ve got videos of some of their recent games, so I’ll be sitting down with the lads to see how they play and what problems they are likely to cause. Obviously, the key thing from our point of view is to go out there and get the kind of the result that will keep the tie alive for the second leg in Dublin.” The heat in Poland was a worry but now that seems to have been solved: “It was originally going to start in the afternoon,” he explains. “And with temperatures of 25-30 degrees, it could have been very difficult. But now it has been put back to 8pm which is grand.”
Pat Scully has no doubts Drogheda teammate Gary Rogers is the best young goalkeeper on the eircom League. Given time, predicts Scully, he will go on to be the best north or south of the border. “Gary’s an excellent keeper , head and shoulders above anyone else his age,” said Scully who spotted Rogers’ potential a long time ago. “I actually remember him when I was at Shelbourne,” he recalled. “He was only 16 at the time. I didn’t see much of him to be honest but from the little bits I did see I knew he had something special to offer. Most 16-year-olds are two a penny but you could tell Gary was a bit different. And he obviously has made great strides since. You can see that he has developed into a really good keeper. To be fair to Gary he has got us out of jail on more than one occasion this season. Although, like all keepers he has had his howlers as well. Like in the 3-1 defeat against Waterford at O2 Park in April when he gifted the Blues their two winning goals. But there isn’t a player on this planet that hasn’t made a mistake from time to time. So no shame there. No one’s perfect, said Scully. “And Gary would be the first to admit that there are certain aspects of his game that he needs to work on. His decision making needs to improve. His judgement needs to be better in terms of when to come off his line and when he should stay. Sometimes it is better to let defenders deal with the situation. Little thing like that, but nothing major. Certainly nothing that requires major surgery. Positional play is so important for a keeper.” Rogers also has an old head on young shoulders, a quality that has impressed Scully. “He really looks after himself and that great to see in a young lad,” he said. “So many kids don’t make the most of their talent for one reason or another. But Gary works so hard. He’s a great professional. And he isn’t arrogant either. He just gets on with his job and if he makes a mistake he’s the first to put up his hand and admit it. Of course when you make a mistake you will always get a bit of flak. But that is part and parcel of football. You shouldn’t hide when you are to blame and Gary never does. For a 20-year-old he’s so mature. He’s definitely the best young keeper in the country. As for being the best overall, that will come in time. Steve Williams and Stephen O’Brien are probably the best in the business. Steve Williams was exceptional when I was at Shelbourne, and in terms of consistency and technique no one is better than Stephen O’Brien. But it has been a long time since a 20-year-old keeper has made as much of an impact as Gary has. I’ve been home seven years and I can’t remember one as good. He’s got it all in front of him and there’s no reason why he can’t go and continue to do really well. Hopefully he’ll stay here for many a year to come because you can build a team around people like him.” Rogers has Scully singing his praises after he pulled off a superb one-handed flying save to deny Dan Murray what looked a certain goal in Drogheda’s 3-1 win against Cork at O2 Park last Saturday. “What a save!” gasped Scully. “It was straight from the top drawer. But to be fair it wasn’t the first time he’s rescued us this season. He had no right to get to it but he did. But that’s Gary for you.” Drogheda host Shamrock Rovers at O2 Park tomorrow night. When the sides drew 0-0 at Richmond Park in April, Rogers saved a penalty. He has since saved a spot-kick in Derry. And Hoops boss Liam Buckley said: “Gary stood out for them at our place. If it wasn’t for him we probably would have won.” But Buckley wouldn’t swap Barry Ryan for Rogers. Naturally, as far as he’s concerned, Ryan has no equal in the eircom League. “On his day Barry is potentially the best,” said Buckley. “He kept 13 clean sheets for UCD last season despite the fact that they spent four months at the bottom of the league. That tells me he must have had a good season.” Ryan has three shut-outs to his credit this year and Buckley said: “Barry’s not just good at keeping clean sheets. He reads the game really well and is quick off his line. He is like a sweeper at times. Apart from that he has good hands and is a great kicker of the ball. If there’s a better keeper in the league I haven’t seen him,” Buckley knows Rovers can’t afford to treat Drogheda too lightly. “They had a very good win at the weekend,” he said. “By all accounts they played really well. But we know what to expect. They are a big, physical side and they will make it difficult for us.” Shamrock Rovers in the News in May 2003
