LOI 2025

[Diabhal]

Gufc could be further ahead here. Liking what this Tollett lad is offering and is working well with Dyer

[Ralphie]

As it stands “John Caulfields/Ollie Horgans Galway” are top of the league.

[Iggy]

Didn’t realise Tollett’s father is former rugby league player and BBC sports presenter, Tulsen Tollett. How did he end up living in Galway? Irish wife maybe?

[Iggy]

Bohs win it with the last kick of the game again. Terrible clearing header from Donelon. Sent the corner straight back to the corner taker to put one last cross in.

[maurice_brown]

Sickener.

[Spidey]

Fc Biggles love a late winner

[Diabhal]

Really disappointing result for GUFC after the loss to Pats. Cunningham and Borden have been big losses. We lose a bit of flair without Keohane and McCarthy too.

Bohs keeper was excellent and they probably deserved the 3 points off the strength of their second half.

[Fagan_ODowd]

Damien Duff hits back at Stephen Bradley: ‘Since Stephen got invited down to the Dáil, he seems to think he can comment on everything’

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Summarise

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Damien Duff during the defeat to Waterford

Damien Duff is standing firm in his row with Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley with the Shelbourne boss accusing his city rival of attacking his character – and Bradley accusing Duff of only showing respect when it suits him.

While Duff and Bradley have generally enjoyed a good relationship since former Rovers player and coach Duff took over at Shels, the root of their fallout surrounds the aftermath of the 2-2 draw between their sides in Tallaght last month.

Duff went down the tunnel at full-time without shaking hands with Bradley, and in the match programme ahead of the Hoops’ win over Sligo Rovers on Monday, the Tallaght boss said that the actions of his high-profile counterpart showed a “lack of respect”.

Damien Duff during the defeat to Waterford

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Daniel McDonnell and Aidan Fitzmaurice pick through a dramatic League of Ireland Monday

While Duff had issues of his own to deal with after a disappointing loss at home to Waterford, his side sliding down the table and on a run of five games without a win, he did address Bradley’s observations.

It appears that the point of contention was a comment made by Bradley at a press conference last month.

Asked about Duff’s claim that Shels midfielder Kerr McInroy was the best player in the league, Bradley said: “Sometimes Damien can get a bit carried away with his comments, a little bit emotional".

That prompted a response from Duff.

“I think since Stephen got invited down to the Dáil, he seems to think he can comment on everything at the minute. I didn’t shake his hand after the game, I didn’t shake any of the staff’s hands after the game because I didn’t think they deserved it,” Duff said.

"I wasn’t even going to shake their hands before the game because if it was a lack of respect, how he [Bradley] spoke about me before the game was a lack of respect, criticising my character was the way I took it but the game was nearly two weeks ago. So if he is still going on about it, that’s all I have to say about it.”

Bradley doubled down on his initial observations when pressed on the subject after his team’s 2-0 victory over Sligo Rovers.

“It’s a lack of respect, there’s no doubt about it,” he said. “Regardless of whether it’s Damien or anyone else, you shake hands. We’re winning 2-0 at home, Bohs score in the last minute to win 3-2, you go and shake Alan Reynolds’ hand and Stephen O’Donnell’s hand.

“As managers, coaches, we’ve got a duty to lead and show respect. We are talking about trying to take it forward and raise the standards of the league. That’s all a part of it. If you don’t want to shake hands, that’s fine.

“That’s your choice but it can’t be when it suits that it shakes hands. It’s about being respectful win lose or draw, regardless of what was said on the touchline, you shake hands. It was disrespect,” said Bradley, who dismissed the McInroy line as “irrelevant” as Duff had shaken hands before the game.

Bradley was happier man going home on Monday night, with Duff feeling there’s a lack of bite in his dressing room, as evidenced in the Tolka Park loss to Waterford courtesy of a third minute Padraig Amond strike.

“I think it’s there for everyone to see. The story of our season, near on every game is a mirror image of the next one, dominating, giving away poor goals, lots of chances and crosses but losing the game or taking a point,” Duff said, his mood clear in the fact that he made two substitutions midway through the first half of the Waterford game with another change at the break.

“We were on top [at the time] but I still didn’t like the energy and intent of the team, as I said to the guys at half time, someone had to go. I’d have done the whole lot of them if I could,” Duff added.

"Is there an edge, a nerviness around the guys? I don’t know, there’s a nerviness in defence, with the goals we are giving away. We had chances in the first half and second half to get back and win the game. They have done a job on us, tried to frustrate us for the whole game, slow it down, as I have said many times it’s something the guys will have to get used to.

"Is it nerves, is it doubts, is it fatigue? I don’t know. Listen, it’s my job, but there was certainly a flatness floating around the team in the first-half. Anyone who knows our team, who knows Shelbourne, we have more gears, we have more energy. Creating a team from scratch, with a buzz and an energy, I absolutely believe that energy never lies.

“If you don’t have energy in your teams you’ll get punished. Of course there was energy to a point, but I think it was there for everybody to see, certainly in the first-half, that there wasn’t enough.”

Meanwhile, Waterford’s new boss John Coleman, who was in Tolka Park as an observer as caretaker Matt Lawlor was in charge before handing over control, says he was impressed with the Blues. “The first thing you’ve got is spirit. If you didn’t have the spirit, you can’t work with anything, you haven’t got a chance if you’ve not got spirit. We’ve got that in spades, you can see that,” Coleman said.

“Every one of them ran themselves into the ground. Some of those players will have cramp on their cramp. When you’re doing that, and when you’re doing that for the fans who travelled, who are magnificent, it’s a marriage made in heaven. But you need that rub of the green and we got that rub of the green.”