Guard of honour for Shamrock Rovers 'will hurt', admits Ruaidhri Higgins

Ruaidhri Higgins admits it will hurt to acknowledge Shamrock Rovers’ title win with a guard of honour at Tallaght this Sunday.

The Derry City boss has been in this situation before, back in 2008 when he and his team mates applauded newly-crowed champions Bohemians onto the field at Dalymount Park. That night, Pat Fenlon’s side were due to receive the title, but they did so on the back of a defeat as the Candystripes spoiled the party somewhat thanks to a late Mark Farren goal.

Higgins would like nothing more than a repeat of that 1-0 result this Sunday in Dublin, but beforehand he and his players will be both professional and respectful and acknowledge the new champions.

“I spoke about that game to the players,” Higgins admitted. “I remember the night Bohs won the league and we gave them a guard of honour and we went on and won the game. We have to look after ourselves, we have to make sure that we keep this wee bit of momentum going right through to the cup final. Obviously, it will hurt a bit. I’m not going to lie, it will hurt, but Shamrock Rovers have been the most consistent team throughout; I know in the second half of the season we’ve been outstanding, but you don’t win leagues based on one half of a season.”

Higgins could well keep himself awake for nights going over key moments which cost his team throughout the season, but ultimately, he agrees, consistency has been key.

“We had a period that’s been well-documented and I probably talk about it too much myself, that period around May time when it went wrong for various reasons,” he said. “That has cost us ultimately, but Shamrock Rovers have been consistent right throughout the season and you have to say they have deserved to win the league.”

The future

In the aftermath of Monday’s draw at Sligo Rovers, Higgins said there would not be many changes to his squad as he builds for next season, and while there is still business to be done this year with two league games and an FAI Cup final to come, he is hoping that his squad uses the experience of missing out this time to carry them on into the next campaign.

“It has to fuel the fire,” he continued. “We know that we’re becoming a really good side in this league and if we can keep this group together and add one or two, I feel we’ll be right there. I said when I took the job back on Aril 23 last year and I signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at that stage, that I wanted to win the league within the period of my contract, and we do, we want to win the league and we ant to win it next year. We’re not going to hide behind that and we want to go and win the league and really compete.”

From the high of beating Shamrock Rovers back in February and setting the pace early at the top of the table, to the low of going six games without a win in May, there has been a lot of lessons to take from this year. Higgins firmly believes his players will learn from because of those experiences, and become better players as a result.

“This year we have a lot of lads in their early 20s and mid-20s,” he stated. “There’s so much room for development and improvement in those individual players, and going through what we’ve gone through this year will really stand to them. A lot of players have been here all season and experienced the ups and the downs and that will only stand to them going forward.”