Shelbourne manager Damien Duff believes that Monday's helter-skelter Airtricity League Premier Division 4-4 draw with St Patrick’s Athletic has added "fuel to the fire" to one of Irish football’s most noted rivalries.
The match was originally meant to take place in early August but was postponed due to St Pat’s getting stranded in Bulgaria following their Europa Conference League win over CSKA Sofia – a decision Shelbourne claimed was "unfair."
Perhaps with the residue of that decision still lingering, the fans at Tolka Park were treated to some early fireworks as the sides shared eight goals in a game that also saw three goals disallowed and red cards for St Pat’s boss Tim Clancy, Shels’ coach Alan Quinn and visiting midfielder Jamie Lennon.
For Duff, the fixture was a throwback to some of the high-octane clashes between the sides in years past and with Shelbourne already guaranteeing their safety on their return to the top flight, he hopes to see it become a regular fixture once more.
"I’ll take that as a compliment," he said of the feisty nature of the clash.
"It means they know we’re here, we’re back, we’ll obviously be here next year.
"Hopefully it’s here to stay, the rivalry between Pats and Shels has gone on for a long, long time and maybe we’ve just added a little bit of fuel to it again."
Duff felt that they should have earned all three points, and he wasn’t convinced that Shane Farrell had fouled Sam Curtis for the penalty that led to a third goal for the away side.
"As bizarre as it sounds in a 4-4 draw, I think we deserved to win the game.
"We played the better football, a team with a clear identity, created more chances but I can’t condone the four goals we gave away.
"Outside of that, a top-class performance, couldn’t be prouder of the lads."
"Was it a penalty? That’s the one I have an issue with," he continued.
"It’s great combination play, he gets in behind Farrell, it looked like he [Curtis] was waiting to go down and I’m not sure Farrell did touch him.
"Like I said, I can’t fault the guys, yes at 4-2 we should see out the game, but listen they didn’t and we move on."
For opposite manager Clancy, while the neutrals would have been engrossed, he would have preferred a more sedate affair.
"We probably got lucky to come away with a point with the goals we conceded, really poor on our behalf.
"The tempo and everything else in the game was exceptional from them. The atmosphere was very good and we did well to come back into the game.
"We had a few good chances, I think we had two goals disallowed that shouldn't have been, Barry [Cotter] hits the post with a great free-kick but they had chances as well.
"I’m sure for the neutral it was a great game on a Monday night but certainly one I’d rather it to be a lot less hectic."
On his dismissal after an altercation with Quinn, Clancy added; "it’s something I’ll certainly improve on going forward."
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