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of just eight irish olympians to have won a gold medal the sports scholarship i was on at ucd wasn t just the football scholarship but included other sports said scales there are good few from that scholarship system who are out at the olympics including swimmer darragh greene in the breaststroke the ireland record holder at 50m 100m and 200m lena tice is on the hockey team and an irish international cricket player and i lived with paul o donovan in first year in college he is an insane athlete living with him i could see the amount of work he put in eating the right food and all the hours he spent in training i would have seen him in the gym training beside us he would be on the rowing machine going flat out and often he d end up going over to the bin to throw up the rowers push themselves to the limit and they can t do anymore while sea swimming has become very common during coronavirus times scales has always been fond of a dip in the irish sea being from brittas bay i m well used to the sea i enjoy sea swimming it is not like i m forcing myself to hop in only for recovery even if i wasn t playing i d do it anyway but it is still great for as part of my recovery with football it is like an ice bath and i always feel much better after on the days off you have to be able to take your mind off football so i love sea swimming and i play golf with a few of the lads in the squad too with the lockdown we have had a tough few months where you couldn t do much but now the golf courses are open it is good to be able to enjoy yourself on the days off with the weather we ve had in the last few weeks we have made the most of it but with football in the mind we haven t done too much on the pitch scales has been one of the standout players for the hoops this season who sit top of the table in the league of ireland coming into the uefa europa conference league home qualifier against teuta he has played in every game so far this season starting all bar the recent 2 0 cup win over galway united in that match he made a substitute appearance for the final half an hour of rovers 20 th win in a row over united the first half goals were taken really well said scales about the strikes from rory gaffney and dylan watts we controlled the first half with john caulfield in charge of galway you have to expect a reaction from them like we saw in the second half to be fair to them they came out and had a proper go in the second half creating a couple of chances i think overall we were comfortable and happy enough it would have been nice to go and dominate the second half like we did in the first but it is rare that games work out like that it is all about getting through to the next round and the draw for that means we are really looking forward to playing bohs we have lots of games to focus on between then and now but if you want to win the cup you have to play big games be it last 16 stage quarter final or semi final you are going to have to play the likes of bohs dundalk or pat s and win those type of ties if you want to win the cup we have a big european tie before then and tough league games too but we are looking forward to playing bohs down the line and hopefully get the same result the lads got a couple of years ago in the semi final when they went on to win the cup it is nice to be in the team every week but i know i need to keep playing well and working hard as the competition is so strong when you look at our bench there are players who would be playing week in week out in the league with other teams i ve been playing between centre half and wing back and that is helping me be picked as i can slot in for either position if i want to keep playing every week i have to keep up my form and stay fit i ve scored twice this year both against dundalk and they are two of the best goals that i ve scored in my senior career as a kid i would have played higher up the pitch in midfield or as a winger and scored a few goals playing as a wingback you can get into these higher positions and every now and again there is going to be a chance that will fall to you it is about taking it i ve been in the right place at the right time to score those goals this season it is nice to chip in with a couple of goals and assists rovers come into their home european tie three points clear at the top of the table having won four matches in a row in all competitions including last week s 3 1 win over st patrick s athletic putting behind them a difficult period when struggling with an injury crisis they earned only eight points from the 21 on offer in the league we went through a tough spell in june we lost a couple of games after being on that long winning streak to lose a couple of games in a month was tough we bounced back really well from that the spirit is high we have players back from injury and richie towell has come in and done really well it is all positive in the camp at the moment it is such an important busy month in august and so it is a good time for us to be kicking into form and playing well last year when we were winning every week and on that streak of unbeaten games we always just took it game by game we never looked beyond our next game that is all we can do now especially with so many games coming up this isn t time to be thinking about different games only the one coming up we have been in this situation before every year the schedule gets hectic when europe and the cup is around hopefully we can stay on top of it stay fit and go on another run categories uncategorized tags league of ireland macdara ferris shamrock rovers tallaght stadium june 7 2021 macdaraferris leave a comment joey o brien i wanted to win the league i wanted to win the cup i wanted to put the club back at the top published in hoops scene shamrock rovers v sligo rovers may 2021 there have been plenty of crucial late goals this season that have helped propel the hoops top of the league and cement the record run of games undefeated in league of ireland history but for shamrock rovers defender joey o brien a few run of the mill wins built on the back of clean sheets would do just as nicely it is always something we talk about in the dressing room that clean sheets win leagues said o brien it is obviously great to get last minute winners we know if we can get a clean sheet a win will be easier as the lads are going to score goals the foundation at the back allows you to be in the game and control the game a single goal can win you the game with that clean sheet we would like to get a few more this year come the end of the season the team with the most clean sheets will probably win the league it has gone on so long across three seasons said o brien about the record of undefeated games for rovers when the hoops hit 31 unbeaten following the win in finn harps they beat a record that had stood since 1927 it is a great achievement but it is probably something that you will only look back on in years to come as at the minute it is just on to the next game and the next game to be honest there isn t much talk on it in the dressing room let s just win the game in front of you and that is what we were at it isn t about keeping the run going it is about winning what is in front of you keep rolling on to the next game it took an injury time winner for rovers to earn all three points against st patrick s athletic in richmond park while rory gaffney s goal on the back of a quickly taken throw in from liam scales got the hoops a point last time out here in tallaght you can t beat a last minute winner said o brien about danny mandroiu s goal against the saints it was a tough hard game against pats tackles were flying in it is a local derby so it makes the win that bit sweeter it was first against second in the league which added to it and made the win that bit more important the current shamrock rovers squad is one that has been created by stephen bradley since he took up the head coach role at rovers the acquisition of o brien in 2018 was a crucial one bringing in a player with both premier league and international football experience but just as important a player with a driven attitude who is a crucial member of the leadership group in the squad i wanted to win the league i wanted to win the cup i wanted to put the club back at the top said o brien about his ambitions on signing for the club that was it nothing else speaking to the manager when i first came in that was why i came here i maybe didn t realise how far off we were at the start we weren t really near the top then we were qualifying for europe but there was dundalk and cork battling each other and we were below that you could see the change in the team with the players who left and those who came in there has been a huge turnover in players since i came to the club the quality has come into the group and players have improved and improved the manager has changed the system of play and that has really benefited us he has brought in really good players who have really fitted into the system it has been really good over the last 18 months and more from when we won the cup that was a huge turning point for us said o brien about the team winning the fai cup in 2019 beating dundalk on penalties in the aviva stadium the first rovers side to achieve that success in 32 years winning the cup was a massive massive moment there is no hiding from that the club had waited so long the size of this club and the magnitude of this football club the players realised how long it was on cup final day you could see how big the crowd was the outpouring of emotion to see fans who had waited so long or those that had never seen us win the cup that gave the players in the group a huge amount of satisfaction and enjoyment but also confidence in our ability we were the team that ended that cup drought a huge part of football is the having the confidence to go out and to excel we got that from the cup final and it rolled on to the following season it isn t just being about an older player going around as an older voice of having seen it and done it said o brien about the leadership dynamic in the rovers squad you don t really want that it is about creating the right environment in the dressing room where there are no issues no cliques if there are any issues you want the younger lads to be comfortable and confident to go and speak to one of the senior players you have the experience in the dressing room but it isn t authoritarian and that these lads are the main men who run it it isn t like that it means you are there to give guidance if you are asked and if there is something that is worrying them it means you ve been there and can offer them some advice on how to handle it i am an older player so my life experience is different i m going home to play with my kids whereas they younger lads are going home to play on their playstation what you have in common is playing football and the dressing room the competitiveness and intensity of training are things that will never change the older lads in the group probably do demand more in training we put the demand of each other that then leads on to match day after last friday s visit to oriel park the hoops welcome sligo rovers to tallaght stadium this evening when the teams last met a rory gaffney deflected shot off john mahon two minutes from time earned the hoops a draw o brien knows this evening s game will be difficult against the bit o red i ve always had a lot of time for liam buckley looking at his teams from the outside looking at the level and clubs that he played at and also his pats team and how he had them play even now at sligo you can see how he has changed them he has brought in some really good players and he has improved the squad they are right in the race sligo have done really well it will be a tough game and that has been the case when we have played the last few times the scorelines maybe haven t reflected the game they have been a lot tighter games than the final outcome categories uncategorized tags joey o brien shamrock rovers tallaght stadium toasting a harps win and a rovers title win may 11 2021 macdaraferris leave a comment published in the official finn harps match day programme issue 4 2021 finn harps v shamrock rovers there has always been a good relationship between finn harps and shamrock rovers dating right back to when the hoops provided the opposition in 1969 for harps first league of ireland game as a shamrock rovers fan i ve always enjoyed travelling up to finn park and cannot wait to get up to ballybofey again when restrictions allow and the new stadium in stranorlar when finances for opening the venue allow there is always a great welcome for the travelling supporters in donegal there is the wonderful soup and from a hoops perspective in recent years the results have gone rovers way you have to go back to november 2008 for the last harps win over the hoops with marc mukendi and conor gethins on the scoresheet in the 2 0 victory in finn park cementing the relationship of good will of course is finn harps role last season in handing shamrock rovers the title yes the hoops went through the covid 19 shortened season unbeaten conceding just seven goals and keeping 13 clean sheets in the 18 games but it was a finn harps win in november that got rovers over the line to confirm the league title even better from a rovers perspective was that harps crucial win was against rovers rivals bohemians harps had lost 12 in a row in dalymount park but came up trumps that night i was probably the only shamrock rovers supporter who was present to see rovers win the league i was in the phibsborough venue reporting for extratime com come the final whistle i was thankful of the mask i was wearing so i could have some semblance of neutrality as people couldn t see the wide grin going across my face as rovers had secured their 18 th league title aaron mceneff described the scenario on the night when i spoke with the former rovers man recently i was sitting at home and looking at the bohs v finn harps game on watchloi the finn harps keeper had a stormer pulling off great saves around the 75 minute mark with harps 2 0 up and bohs down to ten men our players whatsapp group slowly started to take off when it got to 85 th minute i had the drinks open we then went on facetime with the lads to celebrate the hoops head coach stephen bradley wasn t even watching that night and was only alerted to what was unfolding thanks to his assistant coach glenn cronin messaging him with ten minutes to go the 2 0 win for harps was their first win over bohs in dalymount park this century and was quite a time to do it ollie horgan s men were battling to avoid relegation and the three points that night as well as making the hoops champions sent one of their relegation rivals cork city down mark russell was the hero for harps and the hoops scoring a goal either side of the half time break it left harps five points...