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Groundhopping: Derry City (v Tobol Kostanay, Tallaght Stadium)

Competition: Europa Conference League Third Qualifying Round, Second Leg

Date: 17 August 2023

Result: Derry City 1 – 0 Tobol Kostanay (1-1 on aggregate, Tobol win 6-5 on penalties)

Tickets:  £25 for adults, £9 for kids.

Attendance: 3,128

Game/ Experience Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

The Game: Derry came into this game 1-0 down from a trip to Kazakhstan, and based on the highlights I’d seen, a little unfortunate with that. Forced to play in Tallaght instead of Bandywell or Windsor Park (which works for me, though I’d imagine was a serious frustration for their fans), they created an almost manic atmosphere which I really quite enjoyed, although almost entirely in the Tallaght Stadium’s West Stand.

I thought Derry dominated most of the game, creating a host of chances, though their actual goal came from a penalty. There wasn’t a lot of cutting edge, as demonstrated by the final kick of normal time, a one-on-one with the Tobol goalkeeper that was frustratingly scuffed. There was nothing in the tie, though, which is always a bonus, and ultimately it went to penalties, with Tobol’s goalkeeper, something of a game player, delaying loads of kicks and causing a few issues.

It was Derry goalkepper Brian Maher who was eventually key after Tobol had hit the crossbar with their first chance to win the game. He hit the seventh Derry penalty quite tamely at Tobol’s keeper, and then got nowhere near the reply, with Tobol coming out 6-5 winners after seven penalties each. A good contest that Derry were unlucky not to win, but neither side felt riddled with quality.

The ground:  I’ve been to Tallaght countless times but it felt different occupied by lively Derry fans, who lit up the normally quiet-ish West Stand. I particualrly enjoyed their renditions of ‘Teenage Kicks’. The North Stand looks close to completion, maybe another month’s work.

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Groundhopping: Shamrock Rovers (v Molde, Tallaght Stadium)

Competition: Europa Conference League Group F

Date: 13 October 2022

Result: Shamrock Rovers 0 – 2 Molde

Tickets: I’ve decided I’m all in for Shamrock Rovers Europa Conference League Group Stage. €75 for the three Shamrock Rovers home games. €30 for kids for the same. There were more expensive tickets, but I don’t need to be in the padded seats!

Attendance: 5,860

Game/ Experience Rating:  ⭐⭐

The Game: With Shamrock Rovers coming under increasing pressure at the top of the League of Ireland, Stephen Bradley has made it clear their priority is no longer Europe, but ensuring they maintain their Irish title. Which is a shame, but I get it: trying to get out of this group was always going to be a big ask, and while any kind of result is worth a serious cash influx, it’s unlikely to top the totals involved in doing it all again from the position of Champions (which vastly increases your chances of a group stage as well as the obvious implicit benefit) next season.

This was not a sparkling performance, and I think that’s a shame as despite losing 0-3 away and 0-2 today, I feel Molde are beatable for Rovers on their day. In fact, had a very good chance in the opening minutes been put away – a fairly easy one on one – this could have been a very different story.

It turned out, instead, Molde got a relatively routine win in which Shamrock Rovers’ threat seemed to fade throughout. A disappointing performance and officially the end of the campaign, though it’ll be interesting to see KAA Gent drop by in a couple of weeks time.

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Groundhopping: Shamrock Rovers (v Djurgårdens, Tallaght Stadium)

Competition: Europa Conference League Group F

Date: 8 September 2022

Result: Shamrock Rovers 0 – 0 Djurgårdens IF

Tickets: I’ve decided I’m all in for Shamrock Rovers Europa Conference League Group Stage. €75 for the three Shamrock Rovers home games. €30 for kids for the same. There were more expensive tickets, but I don’t need to be in the padded seats!

Attendance: 6,330

Game/ Experience Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐

The Game: Djurgårdens, oddly, are the fourth ranked team in Shamrock Rovers group, with Shamrock Rovers the third. I think its quite a balanced group with little between Molde, Djurgårdens and KAA Gent, though it’d be a stretch for Rovers to qualify.

Still, any kind of porgress is progress, and Djurgårdens looked pretty ordinary in this game, which on a better day Shamrock Rovers could have nicked. They grew into the game, particularly in a dominant period towards half time in which the Irish side were by far the better side. I’ve been hoping to see more of Jack Byrne, who has been struggling for fitness but is one of the best players I’ve seen in the League of Ireland, and when he did make it on, he was good but not outstanding.

Both sides could have won this, but neither really set the place alight. Still, a fairly comfortably point for Shamrock Rovers is great for the famous coefficient, the significant funding on offer for any kind of points in the Europa Conference League. They’ll certainly need to be home wins if they’re going to progress, though, so perhaps a missed opportunity.

The ground: Surprisingly, less are showing up to these group games than the knock out games (less riding on them as inidividual games, and slightly more expensive, perhaps). It’d be nice to see sell outs going forward. Tallaght was the same as always: a good, neat place to watch football but not one of Ireland’s most interesting stadiums.

Extras: This match made the news for a chant about the Queen that was a little bit tasteless. I didn’t hear it, as I was right down the other end of the ground (in fact, where I usually sit in Tallaght, the away fans are easier to hear than the home ones). What I did hear was Rovers fans chanting for Djurgårdens rivals Hammarby, and a vocal response from the away end, which was fairly comic.

Assorted asides: Djurgårdens has the best away fans I’ve seen of any European side in Ireland to date. Which is interesting as I’d rank Norkopping, who I saw play St Patrick’s Athletic a few years ago, second. The Swedes are a bit mad, but likeably so.

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Groundhopping: Bohemians (v PAOK, Aviva Stadium)

Date: 3 August 2021

Competition: Europa Conference League Third Qualifying Round

Result: Bohemians 2 – 1 PAOK Thessaloniki

Tickets: €20 adults, minimum two tickets due to covid restrictions.

Attendance: 8,000 sold out, covid restricted.

The game: Bohemians are getting increasingly impressive in these Europa Conference League games, so much so that it’s hard to believe it’s been ten years since they were in Europe. PAOK are serious opposition, featuring Shinji Kagawa and a number of other fill internationals (though it probably has to be said that Kagawa was the worst player on the pitch today).

Aside from the opening five minutes, whch saw PAOK on top, Bohs dominated much of prceddings, though they did survive a poor PAOK miss when they got clean through on goal early on. In response, a lovely move set up Ali Coote, who then grabbed a second from a deep corner that the PAOK goalkeeper made an absolute mess of.

PAOK got one back late on, as Bohs tired, but any kind of win here is a hgue result for Bohs given the disparity of resources. I particularly love that Bohs are fan owned, and while stuff like this won’t make waves on any major level, it’s nice to occasionally see on in the face of hyper-commercial football. Hopefully they can hang on away in Greece.

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Groundhopping: Bohemians (v F91 Dudelange, Aviva Stadium)

Date: 30 July 2021

Competition: Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round

Result: Bohemians 3 – 0 F91 Dudelange

Tickets: €20 adults, minimum two tickets due to covid restrictions.

Attendance: 8,000 sold out, covid restricted.

The game: Bohemians are starting to look like they belong in the national stadium, and looked in total control against F91 Dudelange, a side that should have been quite a challenge on paper. In fact, the game was so one-sided that there was no extended period, apart from arguably 10 minutes after half time, where you could say Dudelange were in charge.

Liam Burt and the goal machine Georgie Kelly stood out for Bohs, and despite the spacing, their fans slowly gravitated towards each other behind the goal and went increasingly wild as Bohs walked away with the tie, 3-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate. Really, really comfortable, and Bohs play PAOK from Greece in the next round.

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Groundhopping: Dundalk (v Levadia Tallinn, Tallaght Stadium)

Date: 21 July 2021

Competition: Europa Conference League Second Qualifying Round

Result: Dundalk 2 – 2 Levadia Tallinn

Tickets: €20 adults, €10 kids (no extra fees, well done Dundalk).

Attendance: Around 800, under covid spacing restrictions

The game: Dundalk have faded quite a bit since the highs of beating BATE here to qualify for the Europe League group stages – and getting results in the group, too – a few years back. This side look a shadow of their former selves, and while they play some semi-decent football, it’s easy to see why they’re no longer threatening the upper echelons of the League of Ireland.

They look particularly susceptible to the break, based on this game, in which Levadia only seriously threatened to score maybe three or four times, and put away two. The first was the opening attack of the game, which fashioned a cross they put away.

Dundalk worked the ball nicely to equalise almost immediately, before Levadia got another on the break to lead 2-1 after only about 20 minutes. Dundalk equalised before half time and dominated the game from then on, and really should have won. They now need to score in Tallinn to go through, which isn’t ideal, but Levadia don’t look all that great, so I guess we’ll see what happens. UEFA coeffiecient points are something the League of Ireland really needs to help with European competition, so winning against sides like this is important for the league.

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