Friday Night Lights return with a big bang

It's back. After an off-season that must have felt like an eternity for all League of Ireland supporters, they finally had their Friday night football fix as the league returned last weekend. Well, not all supporters, unfortunately, as St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians supporters had to wait almost forty-eight hours for their game in the Aviva. Supporters of Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers will have to wait another seven days for their game, which failed an early morning pitch inspection because of a waterlogged pitch, leaving all associated with both clubs disappointed.

We welcomed Shelbourne to the RSC on Friday, who were a club that has been very active in the transfer market in the off-season. They had recruited very well on paper, and there was plenty for us to ponder while building up to the game. We worked very hard on them in the couple of weeks leading into the game, and the manager had a game plan that we were hoping would help us, and it did. While we had prepared for all possibilities, we thought we had, but when we were at home resting for the game, news filtered through that Shelbourne had opened the chequebook once again, re-signing Will Jarvis on a permanent deal for the next three years. Jarvis was excellent for Shels when he was on loan for the first half of their title-winning season, and we certainly weren’t expecting to be facing him on Friday night. He came on in the second half and showed glimpses of what we all know he is capable of, and he is going to be a player that Shelbourne will be looking to this season as they try to regain their league title from 2024.

SMOKE, CAMERA, ACTION 

The game on Friday was a really good affair. You could sense there was going to be a great atmosphere from the warm-up as both sets of supporters were in great voice. When we all walked out of the tunnel for the start of the games, flares were lit on both sides. As the game kicked off, the smoke from the flares filled the air, making it very difficult to see for the first five minutes. I actually found it hard to catch my breath on the pitch early on from a combination of the smoke and the little bit of sickness I had in the buildup to the game. Nothing out of the ordinary for this time of the year, with almost every child going around with a snotty nose, so it was inevitable that I was going to catch something from my kids, but thankfully, it wasn’t much.

Once the smoke cleared, all was good, and the first half was mostly Shelbourne’s. They moved the ball well and scored just before the fifteen-minute mark with a goal that we probably could have prevented. While they had most of the ball in the remainder of the half, our goalkeeper didn’t have a save to make, but they deservedly led at half-time. We rejigged a couple of things at half-time, and in the second half, we were a different side. Squad depth last season was an issue for us, but based on pre-season and the opening night's fixture, we look a lot stronger this year. Early in the second half, our manager made three changes, and each had a big impact on the game. Not long after the substitutions we got back level on the night when Tommy Lonergan rose highest to head home Conan Noonan’s free kick. That is how the game finished, but we were good in the second half and had the better of the chances in the rest of the game. We could have won it late on, but it would have been a harsh result on Shelbourne at the same time.

GREAT RESILIENCE 

It was great for us to show the resilience we showed in the first half, especially as last year we would have lost that game for sure. The home supporters were excellent throughout, and I know that they will travel in numbers this weekend, on their first away outing of the season, to Drogheda to support us once again. It will be a tough game for us with Drogheda winning their opening game of the season away at Galway with an injury-time winning goal, and we know how good they can be, so hopefully we put in another good performance and get our first win of the season.

In the build-up to the opening game last week, I signed an extension to my contract, bringing it to the end of the 2027 season. I was delighted to get it sorted, and I love playing for the club. Everyone associated with the club has been very good to me, and I have loved the first two years of my time here, although I hope the next two will be better for us as a club than those were. It is early days so far, but we have gelled well as a squad and are all pulling in the same direction, which is a huge credit to the manager, Jon Daly, and his staff.

Hopefully, we are in for a great year ahead.