Shelbourne 'worthy champions' says Ruaidhri Higgins who seeks FAI Cup tonic
RUAIDHRI Higgins described Shelbourne as 'worthy champions' after lifting the league trophy at Brandywell on Friday and claimed the Dubliners possessed a 'personality and character' that was lacking in his Derry City team at crucial stages of the season.
Admittedly it was a 'bitter pill to swallow' for the Candy Stripes boss who needed to make a sharp exit from the Brandywell pitch following the expected pitch incursion from the celebrating Shelbourne supporters at the final whistle.
Derry's campaign spiralled, winning just two league fixtures since they last met Shels at Tolka Park back in August 5th and while Friday's fixture on Foyleside was long hoped to be a title decider, the Brandywell outfit were mere bystanders in the end as Damien Duff's men battled it out with five-in-a-row seeking Shamrock Rovers on the final day.
Harry Wood's 84th minute goal proved the strike which sealed the win for Shelbourne who led from the front since taking the reins from Derry back in early March.
Afterwards Higgins praised Shelbourne for bridging an 18 year gap from their last league title triumph and admitted Derry's fourth place finish was a fair reflection of their 'disappointing' campaign having 'let themselves down'.
"It's gut-wrenching being on the receiving end of it but you have to say they've shown real personality and character to go and win the league," Higgins said of the noisy Shelbourne celebrations as faced up to the media in his office under the Mark Farren stand. "They've certainly shown more than what we have.
"All the supporters started running on the pitch so I just wanted to get out of there. But they are worthy champions. They had a difficult spell but they dug in and dug in and won their last three league games of the season to get it over the line."
That's a challenge Derry faced - win their last three games and be crowned Premier Division champions for the first time since 1997! It began with a 2-0 win over Dundalk at Oriel Park but back-to-back defeats to St Patrick's Athletic and Shels followed.
That's not where the league was lost in the eyes of Higgins who lamented on dropped points at venues Derry have notoriously struggled at under his watch.
"One thing about them is they have real personality and character and it's something that we possibly need to look at in games away to Drogheda, away to Sligo, places like that we haven't picked up anywhere near enough points.
"Last week wasn't the one which cost us. There's been too many over the season and truth be told, we've let ourselves down in the same venues. We and I have to take responsibility for that."
Did it hurt to watch the Dubliners celebrate on his own patch? "It's the last thing you want," he answered bluntly.
Derry finished EIGHT points behind the champions in the end and incredibly FOUR off third placed St Pat's! They were just seven behind last year's champions Shamrock Rovers last season; just one point better off than their first season under Higgins in 2021 and ten points worse off than last year's total of 65!
That's two fourth placed finishes and two runners-up spots during the three-and-a-half year tenure of the Limavady man who found it difficult to come to terms with his team's end of season collapse.
"Where you end up is where you deserve to be so I can't have any complaints about that. It's just very difficult to accept that with two games to go you still have a chance of winning the league and then the season peters out.
"It's not about tonight. Over the 36 games we've lost too many, we've drawn too many and we have to accept that our points return hasn't been good enough.
"It's a tough pill to swallow but we have nine days to prepare for a massive day in the football calendar and we need everyone together. Everyone behind us to try and lift one of the two trophies that's available in this country."
Winning the FAI Cup takes on much greater significance now given European football is at stake and Higgins warned they simply must defeat Drogheda at the Aviva Stadium to salvage some pride from the 2024 campaign.
"Of course. We've got to go and win the cup. If we don't it will go down as an extremely disappointing year - a huge underachievement. Again, I can't put any other spin on it, that's the way it is - we have to win the cup to take some satisfaction and pride out of the season."
Derry players were despondent after the 1-0 defeat to the champions and despite a dismal run of two wins in their last 12 league matches, it shouldn't take much to lift the spirits with a cup final at the Aviva coming up sharply.
"You wouldn't like to think so would you? Playing in the national stadium. Over 40,000 fans I would imagine in the ground. I'd imagine 20,000 or 25,000 of them will be in red and white and we need to make them proud. We need to step up and show bravery and courage and perform the way I know we are capable of.
"It's something to really look forward to but it's just difficult after tonight to start talking about it straight away. Over the next few days we will get our heads together and knuckle down and try to win one of the two trophies available in this country."