Latest news with #ex-Shels
Irish Daily Mirror
10 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shelbourne could face Linfield in Europe as Champions League pot is confirmed
Shelbourne could be drawn against Linfield in today's Champions League qualifying draw after UEFA confirmed the regionalised pots. Damien Duff's reds are unseeded in today's first round draw which takes place at 1.00pm at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. Shels will play one of five teams; Belfast giants Linfield, Breidablick of Iceland, FC Drita of Kosovo, FCSB - better known as Steaua Bucharest, of Romania - or Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar. Last night, Shelbourne won 1-0 away to St Pat's and while Duff is awaiting news of today's European draw, he insists nothing is more important than the league. Click this link or scan the QR code to receive the latest League of Ireland news and top stories from the Irish Mirror. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'Here it's amazing, the draw, and I'm sure all you guys will be watching and the players will hopefully watch it together and the fans will probably be slipping off from work. 'It's amazing, everybody's so excited, for the players, but the league's still the most important thing,' he said. Duff continued: 'Sounds bizarre. We want to go and do well in Europe and give a great account of ourselves, but the league is still paramount. Whatever league I'm in, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, wherever, the league's the most important.' Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic will join Shelbourne in this week's European draws but Drogheda United have been controversially dumped out. They are victims of UEFA's dual club ownership rules and an appeal to the Court of Arbitration failed yesterday, meaning they won't be in the Conference League. Shels boss Duff has sympathy with his league rivals and said: 'I'm gutted for them, for the league, for Kevin (Doherty), he's a great guy, a good ex-Shels man. 'There's a lot of players there that I'm really, really fond of. They mightn't be fond of me letting them go. But I am, even Ryan Brennan. 'I let him go and there's always been that bit of friction. I want to see his quality and the servant he's been to the league, to Shelbourne, to Drogheda. 'I want to see him in Europe. I don't know the ins and outs. (You hoped) that common sense will prevail,come on, let them in. But it hasn't. So I'm gutted for them and I'm gutted for the league also.' Meanwhile, Duff hailed his team for showing both sides of their game after a classic game of two halves against St Pat's. Shels were dominant before half-time, scoring through a deflected Ali Coote goal before St Pat's took control in the second-half but just couldn't finish. Shels are 12 points behind league leaders Rovers but Duff said: 'No two halves of football are the same. We were brilliant in the first-half with the ball. Showed our quality, showed why we're champions. 'And the second-half, here, we couldn't string two passes together. And it was the other side of us, of champions and of how to win a football match. 'Just working hard for each other, connected, defensively sound. We felt calm without the ball. That was the other reason why I think we deserved to win.' Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.
The Irish Sun
10 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Damien Duff & Stephen Kenny offer strong take on Drogheda United's exclusion from Europa Conference League
DAMIEN DUFF and Stephen Kenny had different takes on the match between their sides - but were united in their sympathy for Drogheda United. Duff's Shelbourne inflicted St Pat's first home defeat in 12 months 2 Shelbourne beat Pat's 1-0 at Richmond Park 2 United's appeal to CAS was rejected yesterday The Reds boss reckoned his side deserved the win for how they played with the ball in the first half and without it in the second whilst Kenny reckoned his team's efforts after the break deserved a reward. But both men were in agreement that it was rough on Kevin Doherty and his players to be excluded from Europe after Drogheda fell foul of Uefa rules which prevents clubs with the same owner participating in the same competition. Duff said: 'I'm gutted for them, gutted for them, for the league. For Kevin, he's a great guy. A good ex-Shels man. 'There's a lot of players there that I'm really, really fond of. They mightn't be fond of me letting them go. But I am, even Ryan Brennan. I let him go and there's always been that bit of friction. Read More On Irish Football 'I want to see his quality and the servant he's been to the league, to Shelbourne, to Drogheda. I want to see him in Europe. 'So we always think - I don't know the ins and outs - that common sense will prevail, here, come on, let them in. But it hasn't. So I'm gutted for them and I'm gutted for the league also.' Kenny added: 'They've earned it by winning the Cup, and the multi-club model, whether you're in favour of it or not, there are examples, of course, where the clubs have managed to bypass the rules for whatever reason on technical grounds. 'The fact that no other club can take their place, it's a blow for Irish football but the main people it affects, obviously, are Drogheda, and I'm sure they're disappointed.' Most read in Football Shels had failed to win any of their six previous away games before Monday's victory but Duff was in no doubt it was deserved. He said: 'I think both sides of the game is why we deserved to win the game. We were brilliant in the first half with the ball. We showed our quality, showed why we're champions. Former Man Utd star subbed off after 20 minutes then red carded on bench in nightmare Club World Cup debut 'And the second half, here, couldn't string two passes together. "It was the other side of us, of champions and of how to win a football match. Just working hard for each other, connected, defensively sound. "I don't think they cut through us. So there's a beauty in it. There's a beauty in it for sure and we take great pride in it. 'We felt calm without the ball. That was the other reason why I think we deserve to win.' KENNY PERSPECTIVE Kenny, who briefly had Duff as a coach during his time as Ireland boss, had a different view. He said: 'I think the second half was absolute waves of attack. 'Shelbourne kept the ball in their own half a little bit early in the match, but we were never under any pressure and obviously the goal was a deflected effort. 'From our point of view, we should have dealt with it better. And after that, there was just one half chance, that was it, really. 'So, to lose the game on that is very, very difficult to accept. 'In the second half. I thought we showed a lot of quality in our passing and good individual wing play and I was just disappointed that we couldn't score, couldn't get that elusive finish. "We looked like we were in quite a high number of times, so we're disappointed. 'We knew a win would have put us in second place, but we didn't win, and that's ultimately down to ourselves.'
