Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley said his side showed courage and bravery. Photo George Kelly
‘I thought the players were outstanding’ Rovers boss Bradley
“I thought the players were outstanding to be fair, from the first minute to the last. They showed incredible bravery and courage,” said Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley following his sides superb 2-1 win over Portuguese side Santa Clara in the Conference League play-off at the Estadio de Sao Miguel.
Rovers had it all to do after the hosts grabbed the opener on 20 minutes Vinicius Lopes found Ed McGinty’s net after 20 minutes of play.
However, goals from Danny Grant and Danny Mandroiu secured the Hoops another famous European Night and another big encounter in the second leg in Tallaght Stadium next Thursday.
Finishing fifth in the Primeira Lega next season, it was the home side that broke the dead lock on 20 minutes when McGinty initially pulled off a fine save Gabriel Silva only for Lopes to head home from close range.
Rovers had good spells of possession in the opening half with Mandroiu creating Rovers best opportunity.
However, a well-deserved equaliser arrived seven minutes from time when Mandroiu passed to Grant who drove a fine shot when it took a deflection and ended up in the Santa net.
The home side thought they took the lead minutes later but Joao Costa’s goal was ruled out for off-side by the match officials.
Rovers also had a goal disallowed on 57 minutes when VAR had judged Rory Gaffney to be in an off-side position after he guided the ball home.
The crucial winner arrived on 66 minutes when Mandroiu latched onto Josh Honohan’s cross to perfectly fire home and secure a brilliant victory.
“I thought we deserved to win the game.
“When you come and bring the personality and the identity like we did, you deserve to get your rewards, and we got this,” said Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley.
“We knew we had to be brave and work together, and the players did that. You have to have the bravery, courage and character when you cross the white line to implement that and the players did it to a ‘T’, they were patient. I thought our all round game was very good.
“It probably caps off the best week of my life to be honest, in terms of the news that we got with Josh and then we gave the fans victory. It doesn’t get better than that.”
