Shamrock Rovers have started their Europa Conference League campaign in a promising fashion, drawing 0-0 with Swedish side Djurgarden at Tallaght Stadium this evening.
The visitors certainly started the better of the two sides, having a couple of half decent opportunities to open the scoring later on. While Stephen Bradley's side would struggle to create many of their own, they did slowly grow into the game after the interval.
They had a couple of really good chances to take the lead, including this effort from Dylan Watts.
ANOTHER BIG CHANCE FOR ROVERS! ☘️
Dylan Watts denied this time!#RoversInEurope | #UECL pic.twitter.com/5smdAa1D63— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 8, 2022
Djurgarden applied some pressure late on, with Rovers looking a bit out of sorts at the back on one or two occasions. However, neither side would manage to find the breakthrough as the teams finished on level terms.
Brian Kerr encouraged by Shamrock Rovers draw
Speaking on Virgin Media after the final whistle, Brian Kerr said that Shamrock Rovers should be encouraged by the way the game went for them this evening. He also felt that the League of Ireland champions were a prime example of the benefits that a third-tier UEFA competition can bring.
I think they learned that they can match the opposition at that standard, that they don't really have to fear them too much. They can dictate the game to them at times, but they also have to be very strong defensively.
They made a couple of errors in the first half that they were fortunate to get away with, but in the second half I thought they were much more solid...
It'll be confidence building, tonight's performance overall...
I remember when we were talking about this competition at the start, we were a bit sceptical about the idea of UEFA introducing another competition.
But you see what has happened with it since and the joy last season with Roma winning it, [Jose] Mourinho putting up another finger as he won a European title.
You seen tonight how much it meant to the supporters of Shamrock Rovers playing in this competition. They have gone down through the competitions this year, lots of excitement about it, and the opposition brought plenty of fans with them.
Shamrock Rovers will now face Gent in their second group game next week, with the game kicking off at 5.45pm on Thursday.
That is likely to be a sterner test for the Irish side, although they will be hoping to secure another positive result in Belgium.
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