3 days Ago By Neil O'Riordan
ROSS TIERNEY is keen to get to the Aviva Stadium to help Bohemians make amends. But he reckons it is a long shot to consider playing there for Ireland in the immediate future. Tierney played for Bohs in the 2021 FAI Cup final decider against St Pat’s which they lost on penalties before moving to Motherwell.
The two sides met again in the decider last season when Tierney was on loan to Walsall with Bohs again on the wrong side of the result. And, after scoring twice in their 4-0 win to book a semi-final date at home to Derry City, Tierney is keen to banish the memory of that farewell. He said: ”That was one of the worst games I’ve come out of, felt the worst, and I don’t think it helped that I was leaving straight after that game.
“I still have that game in the back of my head. “That semi-final is quite a little bit away, we’ve got a few games before that and we need to make our league form better and turn draws into wins.” Bohs have lost just once in nine games in all competition but, during that time, the only sides they have beaten are First Division pair UCD and Kerry – on penalties – and Shamrock Rovers.
As well as his double at Belfield, Tierney scored the equaliser in the 2-1 win over the Hoops and in the 1-1 draw at home to league leaders Shelbourne. And he has been happy with how he has settled back into familiar surrounds. He said: “Nobody wants to go away and come back as early as I did.
Listen, there are a lot of things that didn’t go my way that I thought should have and could have, and done something different. “But there’s no better place to kickstart my career again. I’m not too old, I’m still only 23, I’ve got my family around me and I’ve got a good group here.
“It probably helped that I knew a lot of people so I didn’t need a lot of time to try to bed in. “In the first three games I thought I got up to speed quite quickly and then I think the minutes started catching up on me because I’d not played this many minutes in two-and-a-half years. “I think I got a little bit ahead of myself and my energy started going away.
” And he ran out of steam on Friday, too, although he realised there was a good explanation for that. He said: “I had a little bit of a cough. Two of my three kids started school in the last two weeks and they came home with the school cough and unfortunately I woke up and wasn’t feeling great.
“The first half was a big struggle for me but I tried to put in as much as I could but unfortunately I couldn’t finish the 90.” But he had already done enough, having also robbed Niall Holohan of possession which led to the UCD defender earning a red card for then pulling down James Clarke. Last week, Rovers boss Stephen Bradley suggested there were players in the League of Ireland capable of stepping into the international squad.
But Tierney – who played for the Under-21s alongside players such as Will Smallbone and Jake O’Brien – is not expecting a call-up anytime soon. He said: “It’s every boy’s dream growing up in Ireland to play for the Irish national team. That’s a little bit away for myself.
“I’ve just got to look after playing club football and hopefully a little bit down the line that could happen. “I’ve got to have confidence in myself. I’ve been around with and been in teams with those players so I don’t put myself down.
"I know I can play at that level but it’s just about consistency and I maybe didn’t have that run of games when I went away. “The form I had when I left here, I probably didn’t get to that over there so I need to try to get back to the form here and hopefully I can get there towards the end of the season and stay injury-free. “And you look at the Rovers team, a lot of the lads are going to play in Europe and, you think of the national team, and how many players are going to play in Europe this year? “You’ve got to see the standard they’re playing at, it’s not the be-all and end-all across the water.
"When I went away there wasn’t much difference in the standard in the League of Ireland compared to across the water. “I think although they’re rivals they’ve got the tools in the team to get a few points and I wish them all the best because the better they do, the better the league is going to be and the more attention it will get.” But he added: “The national team, people say they’re not doing well but, if you look at the players, there’s a lot of young players so it’s going to take time.
“I played with a few lads in and around that and I know the quality they possess and the manager didn’t have much time to put his own stamp on it. "But I’m sure over the next couple of games we can see that happen.”.
