Easter Monday’s match in Tallaght Stadium kicks off at 8 pm. Tickets are available online
Was everyone in the group delighted to get the win over our rivals and make it back-to-back away victories in the last week?
“Yes, it’s always nice to win any game but obviously a Dublin derby away from home and just to back up the win in Dundalk. It was important that we did and the players went and won the game quite comfortably in the end.”
Did it take time for the team to settle, win our battles, gain the upper hand and silence the home crowd but once we did, we never looked back?
“That’s exactly what we knew would come for the first 15-20 minutes, that it’d just be a game of trying to win those battles and try and take the crowd out of the game. I thought we did that. They started quickly and tried to get the crowd involved but we managed the spell really well. After 20 minutes, we took over the game so I think the players managed the first spell that they had very well.”
Neil Farrugia capped off a great performance with a well-worked goal and Rory Gaffney ran them ragged too, so was it pleasing to see both men get on the scoresheet?
“I’m delighted for both because Rory was a nightmare for their defenders all game. He caused them problems in every scenario, coming to feet, going behind and holding the ball. Neil was brilliant so I was delighted that both were able to cap those performances with goals. They were excellent on the night.”
Jack Byrne and Graham Burke are being singled out for praise by a lot of people. How good were they on the night?
“I think every player was excellent, to be fair but Jack and Graham when they’re like that, in that form and work like that for the team, they’re very, very hard to deal with. They worked extremely hard for the team first of all and then they bring that quality that we know they have. I thought both of them at times were unplayable.”
UCD are struggling at the bottom of the table and earned their second point of the season against Shelbourne on Friday. What sort of game are you expecting on Monday?
“We’ve got to be expecting a tough game and the best UCD to show up. We’ve got to make sure that we respect them like we do every team and I’ve no doubt we will. It’s the same three points on offer tomorrow night as it was on Friday night so our mentality and approach don’t change. We give UCD the respect they deserve and we’ll be fully focused on trying to win the game.”
It’s Easter Monday and it won’t be quite as tribal an atmosphere as Friday but it should be another good crowd and support from the stands to help keep this momentum going?
“The crowd in Dalymount were unbelievable. I know we had small numbers but they really were brilliant throughout and afterwards. They were fantastic and we’re going to need them again on Monday. It’s important that we have a good crowd because it’s the same three points that were up for grabs on Friday. We’re going to need them to create that atmosphere and give us that edge.”
A few in the squad were hit with illness. How are they doing now for Monday?
“We got Aaron Greene and Gary O’Neill back today but Ronan Finn and Richie Towell are still struggling a bit. Johnny Kenny trained today as well which is good but we’re still missing two or three from it and two or three are back. It was just one of those things, it went through the camp last week. It’ll be too early for Simon Power and Liam Burt again but there are no new knocks after the game.”