Shamrock Rovers head coach Stephen Bradley was delighted with his charges after their dramatic 3-2 win over Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium last night.
That makes it four wins out of four for Rovers and leaves them as the only unbeaten team in the Premier Division.
Bradley was speaking to Off The Ball’s Enda Coll after the game and was particularly complimentary of his match-winning midfielder Jack Byrne.
“He’s outstanding, isn’t he? I don’t think Jack could have produced that performance last year at this time because I don’t think he was fit enough. But now his fitness levels are through the roof.
“You could see that tonight. When he’s that fit and that strong, he’s dangerous every minute of the game. He showed that tonight,” Bradley said.
The home side took the lead in the 20th minute through Dylan Watts but Dundalk hit back almost immediately through an exceptional volley from Jordan Flores.
"I don't think Jack could have produced that performance last year because I don't think he was fit enough. But now his fitness levels are through the roof."@ShamrockRovers boss Stephen Bradley was full of praise for Jack Byrne after the win over Dundalk. @paddypower pic.twitter.com/rlxKIOLM3K
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) February 29, 2020
While the sides were level at the break, Dundalk had the upper hand and the Hoops made some well-needed changes going into the second half.
“Our passing from the back wasn’t strong enough. We didn’t penetrate. It was nothing to do with them. Our positions were good. We spoke at half-time about penetrating quicker and we did that.
“When you do that and you get the ball to Jack quickly in the attacking third you’re in trouble. It was our slow play in the first half that was the problem,” Bradley commented.
While the head coach wasn’t getting carried away with Rovers’ solid start to the season, Bradley was delighted to see an improvement in their performances against the league’s top sides.
“When you look back at the league last year our head to head against Bohs, Dundalk and Sligo weren’t good enough. Simple as that. We need to improve in the head to heads.
“We knew that at the start of the year. We’ve done that against Bohs and we’ve done it tonight.
“But we need to go next week against Sligo and then when we come up against them again it has to be more of the same. But those three we have to improve,” Bradley said.
