Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley praised his side's strong defensive performance in their 1-0 win at St. Patrick's Athletic on Friday night. Aaron McEneff secured the points with a first half penalty but it was Rovers' defensive unit who cam
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley praised his side's strong defensive performance in their 1-0 win at St. Patrick's Athletic on Friday night.
Aaron McEneff secured the points with a first half penalty but it was Rovers' defensive unit who came in for particular praise from their manager, having now conceded just two league goals in five games this season.
"I feel that we're really strong defensively," he said. "I felt that towards the end of last season and we just needed to refresh it in pre-season and make sure we continued that. If we keep clean sheets we'll win games because of what we have in the defensive part. Joey O'Brien, in particular, got himself in some really clever defensive positions."
After some difficult fixtures at the start of the season, Bradley is pleased to see his side sitting on top of the table, two points clear of second-place Bohemians, albeit having played a game more.
"The important thing is we have points on the board. If you look at the start of the season we had, it was a really tough start. We had Waterford, Bohs, Dundalk and we knew we'd have to start right and get points on the board. Last year, we were looking up and chasing so it's good to have started well this year."
The Dublin Derby was played in front of 4,389 people and Richmond Park and Bradley felt the away support were brilliant throughout. "They've been good all year." he said. "We've had big crowds in Tallaght and away from home they've traveled in their numbers and tonight they did it again."
Next up for the league leaders is a home game against Sligo Rovers on Friday.
