Shelbourne and Linfield set for 'phenomenal two games'

Shelbourne and Linfield are set to go head-to-head in the UEFA Conference League with the winners qualifying for this season's league phase of the competition.

Th all-Ireland encounter between the League of Ireland and Irish League champions brings with it the added spice that the two sides have already faced off this summer, in the early stages of the Champions League.

Shelbourne won that particular encounter 2-1 on aggregate, and the Dublin side’s tri-colour-waving celebrations at Windsor Park will remain fresh in the memory ahead of this week’s sequel.

The first leg of the mouth-watering fixture takes place at Tolka Park on Thursday evening, in front of the RTE cameras, before the tie is decided back at Windsor the following week.

The overall outcome will ensure that the island of Ireland will be represented in this year’s league phase of the competition with one or the other progressing, while Shamrock Rovers will also be in action at the same stage of the competition, taking on Portuguese side Santa Clara.

But as Rovers play away in the opening leg on Thursday, all the drama will be in Dublin for the renewal of the rivalry between Reds and Blues.

And while Shels came out on top in the July encounter, Linfield have impressed in their fixtures since that meeting and have come through two European ties to reach the final qualifier, while they also opened up the defence of their title up North with a comprehensive 3-0 win over Dungannon Swifts.

Too close to call, perhaps, however, former League of Ireland stalwarts Barry Murphy and Conan Byrne both believe that Linfield will provide a much tougher test this time around.

Speaking on this week’s RTE Soccer Podcast, the duo outlined the reasons why they give Linfield every chance going into this re-match with a Shelbourne side who looked below par over the weekend in their FAI Cup defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic.

"There's no doubt about it that they've one eye on Thursday. It's such a huge opportunity for the football club to go into the group stages of competition," said Byrne, reflecting on the dismal performance at the weekend.

"And it's important that all those main players stay fit. Now, I'm not saying that they didn't put their heart and soul into the game yesterday because they want to be 100% fit, but it's just a distraction. And I think it's going to be a phenomenal two games.

"I'm really looking forward to both of them. And the fact that Linfield now have started off their season with a very convincing win over Dungannon and have a number of games under their belt since the last time they played, it's going to be a different spectacle completely."

Murphy was in agreement with his appraisal of the famous Belfast club, emphasising the fact that Linfield will be much more up to the speed of the battle this time around.

"When you look at it, they've played seven games since that second leg against Shelbourne," said Murphy. "They've had four tough European games.

"They looked physically off it and they got bullied by Shelbourne in those two games. That won't happen this time around."

Former Shamrock Rovers keeper Murphy also feels that Shelbourne’s extensive celebrations with the travelling Tolka Park faithful on the Windsor Park turf may come back to haunt them, as he feels it will give Linfield added incentive to gain their revenge this time around.

"It's not going to help them either, the way Shelbourne celebrated on the pitch," he said.

"Now, listen, we've all been there. You've got to celebrate. You've got to enjoy these moments. But those are the little things that get pinned to the wall inside that Linfield dressing room. You need all the fuel you can get as a manager, and that will be pinned to the wall. 'Remember that happened. Use that as fuel going into the game on Thursday.’

"But I think it's going to be an absolute cracker, and I think it's going to be a lot closer than it was the last time."

Watch Shelbourne v Linfield in the Conference League play-off round on Thursday from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on this game and Santa Clara v Shamrock Rovers on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app

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