Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley praised his side's disciplined defensive performance in their goalless draw away to Vikingur Reykjavik in their Champions League qualifier last night.
The Hoops fell at the first hurdle against Icelandic opposition last year - in the shape of Breidablik - but they put in a strong and tenacious defensive display to dig out a 0-0 draw last night, surviving the final 10 minutes a man down following Darragh Nugent's sending off.
While the hosts dominated possession for much of the evening, Bradley was satisfied that his side hadn't given away too many clear-cut chances and felt they could have nicked a win after a couple of late chances fell to substitute Johnny Kenny.
"Really happy, I think the players were really disciplined in how they played," Bradley told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "They worked really hard, they fought for each other.
"We should win the game in the end, when you look at Johnny's two chances.
"The performance was really good. Slightly different to our normal (game) but really good.
"They score a lot of goals and we didn't give u"p one shot on target, which was really, really pleasing.
"We knew we'd have to defend something from those corners. But we defended them really well. Overall, we nullified what they did and we should win the game."
Nugent was sent off for a second bookable offence on 81 minutes, though Bradley was severely miffed by the first yellow, in particular.
"I was disappointed. Darragh's first yellow card is not a yellow card. Both (players) came together.
"The referee is very quick to give it. He listens to the noise rather than the actual tackle.
"The fourth official and the linesman were brilliant to deal with all night, there was real dialogue between them and
Read more on rte.ie
rte.ie
