Damien Duff's assistant opens up on his shock Shels exit after 'hard' morning

Irish Daily Mirror

5 hours ago

Joey O'Brien told of his shock at Damien Duff's Shelbourne exit after taking charge of the club for their clash with Waterford on Monday night.
Duff's surprise exit from the Drumcondra club was confirmed on Sunday, just a day before they travelled to the RSC. Shels took an early lead against Waterford in the third minute through Harry Wood, but the hosts levelled just five minutes later as Grant Horton netted.
Waterford went in front through a goal from veteran striker Padraig Amond early in the second half before Wood drew the sides level once again seconds later, with the game ending 2-2, although Daniel Kelly could have won it for Shels late on, but his strike seven minutes into added time hit the crossbar.
"As stunned as everyone else," O'Brien said on Duff's exit after the game. "It was a hard, obviously, morning yesterday. Unexpected. But after the dust had started to settle a bit, this game had to be played and we badly needed three points today.
"Ultimately, unfortunately, we didn't get that, but I felt the performance of the team and the players... some brilliant performances, individual performances of the team as well.
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"It probably sums up our season that game out there. Really dominating a lot of teams, loads of possession, loads of chances and giving up really soft goals. Again, it was the same again there tonight, which is really unfortunate because we felt the lads' performances definitely deserved three points."
Speaking to Off The Ball, he added on Duff's departure: "I didn't see it coming, obviously. He's become a really close friend and he still is a really close friend. The times he's done to this football club, what he's done to this football club, I don't think there's any manager anywhere would have done what he's done, (where he has) taken the club from.
"Literally coming out of the First Division with two players, three players signed, building a squad, getting to a cup final, arriving into Europe the next year and then winning the league. A remarkable job and ultimately that's his legacy of this football club. He's left it on a great footing because the club has been built."