Following a historic home win over Astana a fortnight ago, The New Saints are back on the road in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday as they travel to the Republic of Ireland to face Shamrock Rovers.
Having earned plenty of plaudits in their 2-0 defeat to Fiorentina at the start of the League Phase, the Saints clinched a 2-0 victory against Astana at Shrewsbury Town’s New Meadow on Matchday 2 thanks to Rory Holden’s header and a penalty from Declan McManus. In doing so, they became the first ever JD Cymru Premier side to win a group/league stage match in Europe.
Shamrock Rovers were also victorious two weeks ago, winning 4-1 away at Northern Irish side Larne. That followed a 1-1 draw at home to Cypriot champions APOEL on Matchday 1, when Dylan Watts scored a 92nd-minute equaliser.
Those results have given Stephen Bradley’s side strong foundations to build on as they attempt to reach the knockout stages of European competition for the first time. This is the third occasion that the club has progressed from the qualifying rounds, having competed in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in 2011/12 and the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022/23.
How the league phase table looks after MD2 👀#UECL pic.twitter.com/Bq8kfjxRyD
— UEFA Conference League (@europacnfleague) October 24, 2024
TNS will be hoping that Rovers are still feeling the heartbreak of their final league game of the season last Friday, when they won 2-1 against Waterford but lost out on the League of Ireland title by two points as rivals Shelbourne also triumphed to lift the trophy. It was the first time that Shamrock – title winners on a record 21 occasions – had failed to finish top since 2019.
Johnny Kenny found the net against Waterford to finish on 13 goals for the league campaign – only two players in the division scored more. The 21-year-old, on loan from Celtic, will be a player to watch on Thursday night alongside in-form Dylan Watts who has three goals in his last four matches.
TNS will also need to keep an eye on Jack Byrne, an attacking midfielder who is a product of Manchester City’s academy. Byrne is one of the best technical players in the League of Ireland and has four caps for the Republic of Ireland to his name.
TNS head into Thursday’s game in their best form of the season, having won their last seven matches in all competitions. A 4-1 win over Barry Town United last weekend ensured they remained four points behind JD Cymru Premier leaders Penybont with two games in hand over Rhys Griffiths’ side.
Rory Holden started on the bench at Jenner Park but is likely to come back into the side on Thursday after netting against Astana, while fellow Matchday 2 goalscorer Declan McManus is in fine form with six goals in his last five matches in all competitions.
Full-back Ash Baker has scored in his last two league games so could be in line for his first UEFA Conference League appearance after being an unused substitute in the two League Phase matches so far.
“The lads did really well against Astana, but this is a different game with different opportunities and a different opponent to counteract,” Craig Harrison said.
“It [the starting line-up] is certainly not a foregone conclusion. There will be some disappointment, but over the whole European campaign our subs have been vital. It happened against Astana when Ben Clark and Adam Wilson combined to get us a penalty, which probably won the game for us.
“All the lads want to play, unfortunately only 11 can start, but what I will be saying to all the players is that it’s really important that you’re a good teammate.
“It’s a big game because both teams will feel that there’s points to gain from it. We know it’s going to be a tough game, we’ve been out twice to watch them live and obviously done as much homework as we can.”
Watch Shamrock Rovers v The New Saints live on TNT Sports 4 from 5pm on Thursday night, with kick-off at 5:45pm.
