Dorrian lauds efforts of youth players
SLIGO Rovers interm-manager Brian Dorrian ended his reign on a positive note as Sligo Rovers saw off Shamrock Rovers 2-0 at The Showgrounds on Friday night.
Dorrian had hoped his players would give the fans something to smile about on the last day of the season, and they certainly did that.
“Yeah it was fantastic. There was a big effort from the lads since Monday night. It was all built towards this game tonight against Shams. A tough game.
“We went in 1-0 at half-time, second-half we scored early with John from a set-piece. I felt we were under the cosh a wee bit for parts of the second-half. There was a bit of naivety from the young lads, there was a lot of Under 19s who done themselves proud and the fans.
“I’m delighted tonight for all the players, and for the incoming manager to see that. It’s good that we got that.”
Mikey Drennan’s first-half goal left everyone gushing, and it came as no surprise to Dorrian who has watched the Kilkenny native’s hard work in training since he arrived during the summer.
“Mikey has that in the locker. We’ve seen that since he came in in June. He does special goals. He was feeding off scraps for a long time before that. His finish showed what he can do. The quality of the cross that came in from David Cawley helped too.”
The victory over the Hoops saw Rovers leapfrog Derry to finish in 7th place in the league, something that felt impossible just a week ago when Rovers were hammered by Dundalk.
“That was the one we were looking for, if Derry did get defeated against Pats and we beat Shams we could finish in 7th. It’s good, the boys showed a bit of fight.”
Dorrian took charge for a week and a half, and he says he enjoyed his time in charge.
“I’m going to go sleep for a week! It’s been great, I didn’t want the club to have to struggle and I didn’t want to let the players down either. I really enjoyed it. I’d like to thank all the boys for coming in and giving me a hand. It was great to finish on a high.”