Rovers’ European run continues

Shamrock Rovers have made history as the first Irish team to make the knockout stages of a UEFA club competition.

Following a strong start to their UEFA Conference League group stage campaign, an away draw at Rapid Vienna was enough to confirm the Tallaght side’s participation in the knockout stages of the competition.

Shamrock Rovers became the first Irish team to make the group stages of the Europa League in 2011, and have now added to their European legacy.

Rovers have made it to the knockout stage ahead of ties with Bosnian side Borac Banja Luka and English giants Chelsea in December.

A 1-1 draw against Rapid Vienna is a major boost to Rovers’ chances of making a top-eight finish in the group stage; as it stands, the team have made it to the knockouts as one of the top 16 teams.

Manager Stephen Bradley told the Irish Independent the result was “not the best one but it’s “up there when you take everything into consideration.”

“We’ve had a lot of injuries, a lot of bodies injured. It’s definitely an important result, I really think our experience of playing big games, Sparta Prague, PAOK, AC Milan, Slovan, you could see that really helped us.

“They are a good team but we’re a good team and my only worry is we hadn’t played a game in three weeks. You could see it in the first half, we were tentative. The second half was a lot more like us. We showed real character,” he added.