Bradley revels in Hoops’ emotional Euro rollercoaster

Stephen Bradley hailed “an incredible night in Tallaght” after his Shamrock Rovers side dramatically booked their place in the Champions League second qualifying round.

Having drawn 0-0 against Icelandic champions Vikingur in the first leg last week, the Hoops raced into a 2-0 lead in front of their home fans courtesy of Johnny Kenny on Tuesday night.

But Vikingur pulled a goal back in the second half before Jack Byrne was sent off. Then in the final minute of stoppage time, Vikingur missed a penalty that would have taken the tie to extra time.

The 2-1 aggregate result means Rovers will meet Czechia’s Sparta Prague in the second round of the qualifiers.

Shamrock Rovers manager Bradley expressed his delight with how the night panned out when he spoke to RTÉ Sport’s Adrian Eames after the victory.

“I think I’ve hit every emotion you can think of. It was an incredible night in Tallaght,” he said.

“A big performance from the players and they’ve come up with a special night that will live long in the memory.”

Bradley spoke of his relief at Nikolaj Hansen’s last-gasp penalty miss for Vikingur given his own team were in a disadvantageous position.

“I just didn’t want extra time. We were down to 10 men, we were out on our feet, playing against a team that are a really good team – 10 internationals within their squad, they know what they’re doing – and I was just hoping that it didn’t go to extra time because they would have been real favourites to go and win it,” he said.

“It’s a massive win for us and for a league as a whole. When you’re representing the league in the Champions League, it’s important you try and win games and the players have done that night, so it’s a special night for this club and it’s a special night for the league.

“We’ve set the standards for a number of years and we want to continue to do that.”

He also highlighted the financial boost advancing in Europe’s elite club competition will have for the club.

“It’s so important financially. I’ve said before the game, for all the small nations around Europe, these games are pivotal in terms of financially what it can do for you,” he said.

“It can allow you to grow and build and we all knew that before the game and the players have stepped up in a pressurised situation and delivered.”

The focus now for the manager is an FAI second round tie against Dublin derby rivals Bohemians on Friday before facing Sparta Prague next week, although he remained confident that if they can replicate the atmosphere in Tallaght, they “can go and beat anyone here”.

Bradley also reserved praise for striker Kenny who scored a well-taken brace in the first half and was “unplayable”, having missed key chances seven days earlier in Iceland.

“That’s one of Johnny’s biggest strengths. As a centre-forward, you’ve got to have no fear of missing and Johnny has that,” he said.

“Over there he missed an opportunity. But we were fine with that. He was disappointed, we move on and we know, you keep putting Johnny in those situations, he scores goals.”

The player himself did not play down what the match and performance meant to him.

“The best night of my life I think,” he said.

“Coming into it we were kind of secretly positive but when we went 2-0 up and they scored, we went down to 10 men and it was just backs against the wall.

“We had to dig in and I think that made it an extra bit special the way we went down (to ten men) in both games and dug in deep and came through.”

He added: “It meant so much. I was nearly emotional at the end of the game because it’s just massive.

“Playing in the Champions League as a young boy is everyone’s dream who grows up to play football and obviously to score and progress to the next round and play against a club like Sparta Prague is just massive.”

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