Song Blaring From Rovers Dressing Room Among Duff's Grievances

Shamrock Rovers picked up a massive win in their push to reclaim the League of Ireland Premier Division title by beating Shelbourne 2-1 at Tolka Park. Most of the pre-match discussion had centred around the ongoing feud between Shels' boss Damien Duff and Rovers' manager Stephen Bradley, and that has continued post-match.

In the hours after the game, Duff would accuse Bradley's Rovers of lacking "respect, humility, and class," after they blared a DJ song associated with Shels from the dressing room to celebrate their victory.

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The pair have been at loggerheads since Duff snubbed a handshake offer from his former mentor after their teams played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in April.

Rovers took the lead through defender Dan Cleary before Josh Honohan inadvertently steered the ball into his own net for 1-1.

Shelbourne did not have a single shot in the first half, and Duff tried to mix things up by introducing the strike partnership of Sean Boyd and Mipo Odubeko.

The decisive moment came in the 83rd minute, and Honohan atoned for his earlier error with a powerful close-range strike.

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Redemption for Josh Honohan! ⚽️ He cancelled out his own-goal with a powerful strike at the other end to give Rovers the lead 🔥pic.twitter.com/TxLQEVbB6Q — Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) June 13, 2025

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Music in Rovers dressing room prompted 'further head-to-head' between Duff and Bradley

Duff and Bradley did exchange a handshake both before and after the fixture, with TV cameras picking up the interaction after the game as Rovers held onto their win.

It did appear that there were few pleasantries exchanged, however, and the Irish media reported after the game that a pointed celebratory song choice from Rovers had rubbed Duff up the wrong way.

Duff 🤝 Bradley pic.twitter.com/Nrfyu7ijMR — Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) June 13, 2025

Asked about the handshake, Duff remarked in an interview with Virgin Media: "I am a very respectful guy and I will be shocked if people speak about me otherwise."

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When asked whether he felt Bradley had spoken respectfully of him in the media, Duff added: "I don't read the press.... I stopped reading the opposition manager's quotes a long time ago."

Virgin Media host Tommy Martin then claimed that it was their understanding that there was a 'further head-to-head' between Duff and Bradley during the encounter, although he did not disclose any further details.

Further information came from the Irish Independent's Daniel McDonnell, who reported that Duff had been riled after Shamrock Rovers chose to blare a song by Italian DJ Mauro Picotto in their dressing room at full-time.

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Damien Duff says Shamrock Rovers lacked 'respect, humility and class’ in how they celebrated last night Duff hit out at Stephen Bradley on the pitch after initial row upstairs that was sparked 'amongst other things' by a (Mauro Picotto) song coming from Rovers dressing room — Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) June 14, 2025

Picotto has become an unexpected icon for Shels, with the DJ playing a set in the club's members' bar. McDonnell's report on the game said that Rovers had played a Picotto song that had become associated with Shelbourne, saying that Duff had confirmed that was the point of his grievance, "amongst other things."

"I don’t need to speak about what’s gone on upstairs," Duff said.

"It’s not a disagreement. I’m absolutely right. I think there’s a way to win, with respect, a humility and class. I’ve done that since I was a boy and I’m not sure they’ve done that tonight, that’s all I’d say."

The win sees Rovers go a considerable 12 points clear of title holders Shelbourne as they look like the team to beat in the division.

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