David Sneyd

THERE WERE THE goals, of course, but one passage of play seemed to get an even bigger round of applause from Damien Duff during last night’s 2-0 win over Drogheda United in the President’s Cup.

It was a prime example of Shelbourne being “brutally efficient”, as Duff described the performance, in the curtain-raiser for the 2025 season.

Goalkeeper Conor Kearns clipped a ball towards the halfway line on 33 minutes and Drogheda captain Ryan Brennan waited patiently to win the header. Stampeding from 15 yards away to get above him was Sean Boyd.

The striker didn’t just flick it on hopefully for new strike partner Mipo Odubeko. Boyd’s header was cushioned in the direction of Ali Coote who had drifted inside from the right to offer support.

He spun away with the ball at his feet and in an instant opened the play up for a switch to Sean Gannon gallivanting from the right back.

With precision and power Shels were up the pitch in a matter of seconds. Duff roared his approval on the touchline, raised his arms above his head and applauded the quality of such brutal efficiency.

The fact Shels won the corner at the end of that passage from which Boyd scored a sublime second goal only made it more important.

“If you come off one per cent, we won’t win the league. If you come off a half per cent, you won’t win the league. We won’t win anything,” Duff said.

“So here I smelt a real energy off them. That’s pleasing, just as pleasing as the trophy and having the President here and the national anthem, that was a proud moment.”

It was an encounter with former rugby Irish international Donnacha O’Callaghan and a discussion about his career that sharpened the focus recently. “It was the constant thing that was coming back to me from everybody, serial winners, when they didn’t win, it was because they were complacent,” Duff added.

Sean Boyd scores his side's second goal. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

“It was because they came off it, whether one per cent, a half per cent. It’s everything I’ve been saying to the guys, of course tactics and quality come into it but just having that edge, that mindset, how hard are you going to work, if you off it, you win nothing, it’s fact.”

Shels captain Mark Coyle said before the game that this pre-season was even more intense than before under Duff. They played last night’s game as League of Ireland champions and that brings an added edge from the manager’s perspective.

“I totally agree, that’s just driving standards again, I don’t accept just coming in and doing enough that you win the league this year just because you won it last year. I’ve openly admitted to the players, the staff, even [part owner] Neil [Doyle], there is a bigger edge than normal to me. Because I think it’s time to paranoid. Because if you’re not, you could become a bit complacent, was I paranoid that the guys have come back a bit complacent?

“I don’t know but I’m going to let them know. Yeah, relentless, we will be, and I will as well, back to competitive football [last night] is the most alive I’ve felt in the last six weeks, we’ve played seven or eight friendlies, there is nothing better than being in a stadium with fans.”

Another constant message since the squad returned for pre-season before Christmas was about not “getting left behind” as progress all around continues to be made.

“It’s how you deal with it. If you feel sorry for yourself or you start being a negative influence, that’s not the way. It’s about getting back in the team, working harder, and our staff are very good coaches, brilliant coaches, but sometimes the best coach is just plain old competition, and that’s what we have,” Duff said.

Boyd and Odubeko scored a goal each on a night Duff, and Shels, hope will be the start of a fruitful partnership.

Shelbourne’s Mipo Odubeko after a foul on Drogheda's Shane Farrell. Morgan Treacy / INPHO Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO

Boyd has been with Duff since day one at Tolka and earned a new contract over the winter amid interest from Scotland. Odubeko, the former Republic of Ireland U21 international, is still only 22 but has pitched up at his ninth club.

“He’s been a pleasure to work with throughout pre-season,” Duff said. “I love when players make that bold step or leap to come here. He’s a real threat, he’s an athletic freak and he’s going to score goals, plain and simple.

“Mipo, it’s pure potential and you’ve seen it. Mipo has been an absolute dream… He’s been an absolute dream, just highly, highly motivated and if I didn’t like him or didn’t want to help I wouldn’t give him a big hug and kiss at the end and I’ve no doubt that it’s going to stay that way so is he hard work or anything, absolutely not.

“If we speak about players in this league, I’ve not seen a striker being as athletically strong, quick and powerful as him, you might be able to hit me with someone but he’s a beast and whatever stats as in top speed and all, there is more.

“Whatever you’ve seen [last night], there is absolutely more, he’s exciting,” Duff added. “Scary for opposition for exciting for us. It’s up to me, staff, the players, to drag it out of players.

“But here, we’re talking about Mipo but it’s the same with everyone, Boydy, I think we’ve consistently more out of him. That’s what we do, go through all the players, we get blood out of a stone.

“We’ve obviously played with two strikers [last night]. You rarely see it nowadays. I have to be careful what I say because I don’t want them two thinking they’re the two lion kings around this place.

“Our systems change and we don’t always play two strikers but for sure when we play the two of them up top, granted Mipo can pop down more and out to the sides, is there a better duo in the league? Possibly not.”