Drogs’ Aviva skipper aiming to bring good times back to Shels
THERE’LL be no room for sentiment when Derek Prendergast returns to United Park as a Shelbourne player on Friday and tries to help steer his current club towards the next stage of the play-offs.
The 33-year-old centre-half began a two-year spell with Drogheda in 2012 under Mick Cooke, during which they finished second in the Premier Division, won the EA Sports Cup, appeared in three more finals and played in the Europa League against Malmo.
Now, though, his priority is to awaken the sleeping giant that is Shelbourne Football Club, by helping drive the former League of Ireland kingpins back to the top flight for the first time in five years.
‘It’s been a while since we’ve been in the Premier,’ acknowledged Prendergast, who was captain of the Drogheda team controversially beaten by Sligo Rovers in the 2013 FAI Cup Final.
‘Shelbourne were my club growing up because I played locally with Stella Maris, and so their history is something I would know a lot about. I used to be watching those lads play, including Owen Heary who’s now the manager.
‘We’ll be doing our best to get promoted and hopefully we can kick on after that.’
Prendergast has been impressed by the way Drogheda have bounced back immediately following their relegation from the top flight - while Shelbourne have been stuck in the First Division since they finished bottom of the Premier in 2013.
‘Coming down, it can go both ways,’ Prendergast acknowledged. ‘Clubs can go on a downward spiral like Shels did, but Drogheda seem to have kept a lot of players from last year and that kind of Premier experience is invaluable in the First Division.
‘Every game has been tight this season, with nothing between us in two of the games, and then Sean Brennan scored with an unbelievable free kick in the 93rd minute the last time.
‘I know Seanie from playing with him at Drogheda and I was with him at Athlone as well, and he’s having an unbelievable season. He’s scored against us in every game - two penos and a free kick - and we’ll be trying not to give away set pieces.
‘We need to be on our guard for the full 180 minutes, but I don’t think the first game will have too much of a bearing. If we could take a 1-0 or 2-0 back to Tolka it would be amazing and then hopefully we’d be able to finish it off.’
Whatever happens over the next week, Prendergast will always cherish memories of his time with Drogheda, starting when Cooke signed him from Bray Wanderers for 2012.
‘Drogheda only narrowly avoided relegation the previous year and there were a lot of new signings,’ he recalled, ‘but results started going our way early on, the team spirit was amazing and we ended up having a very successful season compared to what people had predicted.
‘Being made captain for the second year was amazing, the cup runs were great and playing in Europe was another experience I’d never had before, but the ending was not the best, with the club deciding not to keep Mick on.
‘It was totally up to the board, but with no manager the players’ futures were up the air and the team went its separate ways which was unfortunate.’