Dad-to-be Aaron McEneff says it'll be worth the wait to get hands on League of Ireland trophy

Shamrock Rovers were poised to lift the trophy and officially celebrate their first top division triumph since 2010 on Wednesday night when Derry City were scheduled to arrive at Tallaght.

However, the Brandywell club were unable to fulfil the fixture after two club members tested positive for Covid-19 and the entire team were advised to stand down and self-isolate for 14 days.

It’s just the latest disruption to the most bizarre of seasons due to the coronavirus pandemic which has wreaked havoc with the league schedule. Champions, Rovers also had two players test positive which caused the same fixture to be postponed on October 16th - a controversial decision considering Derry potentially face disciplinary action for calling off Wednesday’s match.

However, for all the upheaval, nothing takes away from the Dubliners’ achievement as they were crowned worthy champions with four games to spare. The title triumph was the final piece of the jigsaw for Cornshell Fields native, McEneff who has now completed a full set of League of Ireland honours at the age of 25.

He won the League Cup with Derry City in 2018 and has gone to clinch the FAI Cup in 2019 at Rovers before reaching the ‘Holy Grail’ last weekend while watching Finn Harps end Bohemians’ league challenge at Dalymount.

Rovers face Harps this evening in Ballybofey (K.o. 7.45p.m.) as they take to the field for the first time as champions but they must wait until Wednesday, when they host St Pat’s to be presented with the league trophy for the record 18th time.

McEneff insists he left Brandywell two years ago in search of silverware and remains grateful to everyone at Derry for giving him his chance in the League of Ireland following his return from Tottenham Hotspur as a teenager.

It was the perfect grounding at his hometown club but he believes his emergence as a key player in a title winning team justifies his decision to move away.

And the dad-to-be who announced at the weekend he's expecting his first baby with fiancee, Ellen Coyle next May, can’t wait to lift aloft the league title whenever he finally gets the opportunity in front of the RTE cameras on Wednesday night in Dublin.

“It’s been a long time coming now,” said McEneff. “We obviously hit good form when we came back from the break. “I think coming up to the last couple of games we were sort of waiting for it to happen. I didn’t think expect it to happen on Saturday, I thought Bohs would’ve beat Finn Harps.

“Around the 80th minute the group chat started going mad and all the boys were buzzing. It was a bit anticlimactic because we didn’t win it on the pitch but we were all still buzzing.

“I don’t know what the celebrations will be now with the restrictions. We will get our hands on the trophy at some point and for myself, that’s obviously why I came down here, to win things.

“Winning the cup last year and then the league trophy this year is unbelievable and some feeling. I personally can’t wait to lift it.

“People had their own opinions when I left Derry but I always had it in my head that I wanted to go and win trophies,” he explained.

Football can be a funny old game and after leaving Foyleside his first home match in the green and white was against Derry City when he scored a cheeky Panenka style penalty.

While Covid-19 issues have deprived him of the chance to lift the title in front of his former club, he found it strange and yet fitting the fixture schedule presented him with the opportunity given it was where his League of Ireland football journey began.

“It is a bit weird how it’s panned out. I played my home debut against Derry in Tallaght and then we were to play against Derry to lift the league title so it was a bit strange how it’s worked out like that.

“Obviously Derry gave me my chance to play as a professional footballer and I’m grateful for that but it’s a professional game, you move on to different clubs for whatever reason and that’s been my case.

“I think it’s been a good move for me so far so long may that continues.”

While Stephen Bradley was determined to bring McEneff, who scored 19 goals in his final two seasons with Derry, to Tallaght, the midfield man felt he needed to raise his game to nail down a spot in the talented Hoops side.

“Coming down here I had to back it up. I could see Shamrock Rovers were evolving over the last two years and the gaffer had been putting together a really good squad. He’s just built on that each year and it shows how good a job he’s done having won the cup last year and then winning the league this year, it’s fantastic. Not only to win it but to win it with four games to go shows how strong the side is.

“Coming here at the start, I knew I would have to be right on it from day one. Training with the boys definitely brings that on and the staff have been brilliant in terms of helping me improve.

“I settled quite quickly and have gone from strength to strength. To be playing with such a good group of players, and to be a more integral part of that squad, has been a good achievement for myself. It’s something I want to build on and keep getting stronger.

"Last season I had played every game and then broke down with an injury which I had to learn from. I got fitter again and stronger this year and my overall game is better. I have to give great credit to the coaching staff for that as well as the boys because if you’re not on it in training or in a match, the boys aren’t long in telling you.”

Many rivals fans will be reluctant to give Rovers full credit for their league triumph given it was an 18-game truncated league but McEneff claims the nature of the disjointed campaign and the absence of supporters made it more difficult to find consistency and motivation.

And he points to the fact the club have so far gone through the league season unbeaten as evidence of their impressive achievement.

“With an 18 game season you will obviously have people who have opinions on it. As a player, all over the lockdown, it’s not easy to have to get up and do Zoom calls and then train by yourself and stay fit and motivated.

“To come back after that with a lot of games to be played in a short space of time and to motivate yourself without fans wasn’t easy.

“Within the whole group nothing had changed when we got back. The goal was there, we knew we had a job to do and the boys deserve a lot of credit in doing that and the way we actually won the title as well.

“People might say it’s only 18 games but it’s not like it was the difference of one or two points. We’ve won it with four games to go and showed a real consistency.”

McEneff can’t wait to get back on the pitch after an enforced four week hiatus and he’s determined to finish the league season unbeaten.

“That’s another achievement in itself. I’m not sure if that’s ever happened before. I think if we were to go on and do that it would be a great achievement and it’s definitely something we are striving towards.”

It’s been a memorable season in many ways for the former Spurs youth. Among the many highlights was playing against AC Milan and Zlatan Ibrahimovich in the Europa League qualifiers.

The Dubliners gave a good account of themselves in that 2-0 loss at Tallaght and McEneff reckons it has given the team the inspiration to take their game up a level.

“I’ve really enjoyed this season. The European night when we won with a record number of Europa League penalties (against Finnish side, Ilves). You’re waiting on the draw to come out and see the chance to get AC Milan and there was only ever going to be one team we would get when that was the case.

“You get AC Milan and you’re thinking if we got either of the other two teams we would have a chance of going through but it was a showcase game. You’re playing against one of the best players to have played the game in Ibrahimovic. They had other world class players too.

“To play in a game of that magnitude was unbelievable but we gave a good account of ourselves. It’s been amazing to be part of something like that and playing that AC Milan means you learn a lot about your own game and how to lift the intensity of our team to the next level.

Despite that experience, is there a slight envy when watching Dundalk play in the Europa League Group Stages?

“Listen, if you asked any of our squad would they like to be in Dundalk’s position they would all bite your hand off. Fair play to Dundalk, you can only play what’s in front of you and I wish them all the best in the group stages as I would know a few lads playing there.

“I wouldn’t envy them at all. I would just wish them well. Of course I would like to be in the group stages, it would be class but hopefully we can build on what we did this year and achieve something like that in the future.”