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Shamrock Rovers players, from left, Seán Kavanagh, Lee Grace, Richie Towell and Neil Farrugia after their Europa Conference League Group F draw with Gent at Tallaght Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
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Daniel McDonnell Twitter Email
The signs of fatigue in the Shamrock Rovers camp were evident on Thursday night as the number of injured players on the sideline rivalled the quantity of fit ones on the park as they held on for a Europa Conference League point against Gent.
Neil Farrugia came bouncing through the mixed zone afterwards, though, with the 23-year-old probably one of the few Hoops players who would prefer if their season didn’t end seven days from now.
The rigorous schedule, merging league and European commitments, has allowed the winger to remind people why there was such hype around him when he joined the Hoops from UCD in 2019.
Farrugia scored in Stephen Kenny’s first competitive match as Ireland under 21 manager, and had Premier League interest at that juncture before a disastrous run of hamstring problems, with trips to specialists to try and resolve the problem, placed his career in purgatory.
It was demoralising for the biomedical science graduate who devoted himself to football after completing his studies, but he has enjoyed an unbroken run since the summer and squad rotation has allowed the left winger to grow into a new role as an inverted right wing-back.
Earlier this month, Kenny showed that he remains in his thoughts by declaring that Farrugia has the potential to play at senior international level and his club boss Stephen Bradley agreed with that sentiment after the player impressed against the Belgians. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he will be considered for next month's friendlies with Norway and Malta if there are front-line absentees.
“That’s great for the confidence, great for the head,” said Farrugia, with reference to the Kenny praise. “It always feels good to hear that, yeah, I’ve just got to keep playing my game and enjoying it really. And push on from here.”
He will enjoy tonight, and the visit of Derry City to a sold-out Tallaght Stadium for what looked certain to be a title decider until the Candystripes dropped points in back to back league games to hand the league to the Hoops with two games to spare.
Farrugia watched Derry’s decisive draw with Sligo Rovers on Monday in the house of teammate Gary O’Neill. Dylan Watts joined them. “It wasn’t anything exciting,” he admits. “It was just a normal game but because of what it meant to us, we were shaking watching it, thinking, ‘Is this it? Are we going to win this now?’
“Once we did, it was like, ‘Alright, well, we’ve got a game on Thursday so I’ll see you later’. We had a hug and that was it, a weird situation.”
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There will be scope to crack open the champagne tonight, before regrouping for a trip to Sweden and Thursday’s clash with Djurgardens, the unlikely group winners who have won all four of their games since drawing in Dublin 24 on the opening night of Group F.
The Swedes were fourth seeds in the draw, which highlights that Rovers landed a tricky group. However, the experience of challenging on two fronts has taught Bradley lessons about the profile of his squad and it will shape winter recruitment decisions.
Farrugia should have no doubts about his standing for 2023. “I love these European games and over the last few years, I’ve missed out on a few campaigns through injury so to be able to start a game like Thursday in Tallaght meant the world to me,” he said. We’ll be hearing from him in the coming years.
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