2 weeks Ago
In the days before Larne and Shamrock Rovers met in the Conference League, managers Tiernan Lynch and Stephen Bradley had both talked down the notion that the game would serve as some sort of referendum on the quality of the Irish Premiership and League of Ireland. With the cross-border Setanta Cup competition now defunct for over a decade, and the meeting between Linfield and Cork in the Europa League eight years ago the last time teams from the two leagues had been drawn together, some sort of bragging rights were always going to be claimed. But whatever about the supremacy of one league over the other, it was clear from the off who was the better side on the night.
"It's hugely disappointing," said Lynch, whose side are the first from the Irish Premiership to reach this stage of a Uefa competition. "It's not something we can shy away from, we've got to take that on the chin. "Under no circumstances are we just sweeping this under the carpet.
Under no circumstances are we just going to move on to Portadown [in the Irish Premiership] on Sunday. "We won't get any better doing that." Leaving key players Jack Byrne and Dylan Watts on the bench, there was a sense before kick-off that Shamrock Rovers were devoting at least some of their focus towards their efforts to secure a fifth consecutive League of Ireland title.
Two points behind Shelbourne with two to play, rather than look distracted by their domestic situation, they instead seemed battle hardened by it. Scoring once and having a hand in the other three goals, former Preston North End attacker Graham Burke ran the show but Rovers looked a level above across the board. Whether it was the greater European experience of their opponents, players being overwhelmed by the occasion, or having to play their "home" games in this competition away from Inver Park, Lynch continually batted away any opportunity to make excuses for his seemingly over-matched side.
"Tonight's not a night for excuses, it's a night for looking yourself in the mirror," he said. "That's what this has to be about. When you conceded the goals we conceded, I don't think the occasion has anything to do with that.
We were very naive. "There were times we showed glimpses of what this team is about but the damage was done." Having already drawn with APOEL, Rovers, who still have games against TNS, Rapid Vienna, Borac Banja Luka and Chelsea to come, have given themselves a real chance of progressing to the next round.
Indeed, Bradley challenged his players to think not just of a spot in the knock-outs but an automatic place in the last-16 that would be earned by finishing in the top eight of this new format. "Why not? Why can’t it be our aim?” he said. “Let’s go and try and do it.
I don’t see why we should put a limit on what we can do here. “European football is tough. If you get it wrong on the night, you get beat.
They punish mistakes, but we’ve put ourselves in a really strong position, so why limit our expectations of what we can do? “We’ve never been a group to shy away from expectations and our standards, and we don’t start now. We’ve put ourselves in a position to qualify automatically, so let’s try and do it." Lynch admitted that such ambitions are another step along Larne's journey.
"We can suck our thumbs and feel sorry for ourselves or we can look to put this right. "If we're serious about Larne being a team that are going to do this again, maybe even get to the stage where you can potentially compete, there's things that need to change. It won't be overnight.
It's a process. "It took us eight years to get to this point. We have to keep learning, keep improving.
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