Bradley relishing shot at early season silverware
By Hayden Moore
SHAMROCK ROVERS manager Stephen Bradley has insisted his side will take the game to Dundalk when the two meet again in the first competitive match of the season for the President of Ireland Cup on Sunday.
Dundalk have contested all but one of the President’s Cup games, but according to Bradley, the Hoops are eager to take the match to the Lilywhites.
Jack Byrne at the official unveiling of JD as the new main sponsor of Shamrock Rovers
The President’s Cup sees the league winners Dundalk pitched against Shamrock Rovers, who ended a 32-year wait for FAI Cup success last November.
“The players are ready, the players are fit, they’re strong, they’re ready to go,” said the Jobstown native.
“The big game for us is in two-weeks’ time against Bohemians but there’s a cup up for grabs on Sunday and we’ll try go there to win the game.”
In the league last season, the Tallaght outfit finished 11-points adrift of Vinny Perth’s experienced side – a gap they will be looking to bridge in 2020.
Rovers dropped points in six league games at Tallaght Stadium in 2019, a record that could be argued to have cost them the title after Dundalk remained totally unbeaten at Oriel Park.
But Bradley is adamant that their record last year is something they can improve on coming into a blockbuster start to the season.
“I think our form was really good in Tallaght last year, I think our form last year was really good in general,” he explained.
“We just need to improve on what we did last year and let’s see where that takes us.”
Following the President’s Cup on Sunday, Rovers will have a six-day run-in before they travel to Dalymount Park for the much-anticipated SSE Airtricity League Premier Division opener against Bohemians.
“It’s going to be a difficult game, we know that, Bohs are a good side,” he said.
“Obviously a Dublin derby, but it’s one we’re ready for, we’re focused and we’re ready to win the game.”
On the support of the Tallaght fans, Bradley added: “We know what we’ll get, the fans will travel in their numbers like they always do.
“Whether it’s Dalymount, Dundalk, whether it’s Europe, they always travel in their numbers.
“This club has fantastic support and always has, so we’ll expect no different next week.”
In the off-season, Bradley and his management team made two new additions with Liam Scales and Rhys Marshall joining the squad from UCD and Glenavon respectively.
Although, perhaps their biggest coup was hanging on to stars the calibre of Jack Byrne and Lee Grace, who were rumoured to be on their way out after shining in the previous campaign.
“We’ve been building for a couple of years and we’ve always wanted to get to this point where we don’t have much change and we’re there now,” said Bradley.
“We still need to improve obviously but we didn’t want much change [in the squad] and we have that now” he added.
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