OÕDonnell puts League on the map

Date Published: {J}

Keith Kelly

It has been hailed as the most significant goal in the history of Irish domestic soccer, a goal which saw an Irish team advance to the group stages in European football for the first time ever – and it was scored by a Galway man.

City native Stephen O’Donnell’s penalty eight minutes from the end of extra time in Thursday’s Europa League clash between Shamrock Rovers and Partizan Belgrade in Serbia sealed a 2-1 win for the Premier Division champions.

On a night when the likes of Celtic, Rangers and Hearts were all dumped out of Europe, the reigning Airtricity League champions gave the game here a massive boost by qualifying for the group stages, and their reward came on Friday when they were drawn in Group A with Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Russian side Rubin Kazan and PAOK of Greece.

“To be perfectly honest, I don’t think it has sunk in yet, what we actually achieved and what it means for us and for the league here. It was absolutely crazy after the game. The dressing room was absolutely buzzing, there was a lot of travel involved on Friday but we got a great reception at the airport when we got back,” O’Donnell (25) told Sentinel Sport yesterday.

The win earned headlines throughout Europe, and returned a bit of respect to the Airtricity League which had been lost after the players of St Patrick’s Athletic had refused to play against Karpaty Lviv in a row over bonus payments earlier in the month.

“I think the result has put the League on the map for all the right reasons. A lot of people in this country don’t give the League the credit it deserves, and instead put all their focus on the Premier League in England, but there is real quality in this League.

“The games between the top sides here provide real quality and entertainment, and there are a lot of players doing well in England who started their careers in the League of Ireland,” he said in reference to the likes of Kevin Doyle, Stephen Hunt, Shane Long and Seamus Coleman, to name just four.

O’Donnell also had a spell across the water, having been on the books of Arsenal and Scottish side Falkirk, before moving back to Ireland in 2007, winning a League and FAI Cup medal with Bohemians. He played one season with Cork City in 2009, before joining his hometown club last season, and then moved on to Shamrock Rovers at the start of this season.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.