Shelbourne keep calm and carry on to earn a point as post-Damien Duff era begins

“It absolutely blows away anything I’ve ever done in my career,” he said at the time – nearing the end of his first season in charge – but of course that proved just a taste of what was to come as European qualification and, of course, their stunning 2024 title triumph would soon follow. The type of days the Shels faithful were dreaming of for so long.

But 980 days on, the mood around the Reds camp was a world away from those heady days for their latest trip down to the south-east. A day Shels supporters hoped would never come had finally arrived, for this clash at the RSC came a little over 24 hours on from Duff’s shock resignation as manager.

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After an extraordinary Sunday, on Monday it was back to business as Shelbourne began their new, unexpected chapter, with a draw away to the Blues. “Tolka Park is falling down” jeered a couple of home fans who were first in the door, as a shocked Reds squad, led by Joey O’Brien, came out to examine the pitch.

On the far side of the ground an hour before kick-off, a lone Reds supporter kept the red flag flying high, literally, as the travelling support began to filter in, no doubt still reeling from Sunday’s bombshell development.

The Ireland centurion may have departed Tolka, but he still remains the story, as O’Brien, flanked by coach David McAllister and club technical director Luke Byrne, watched the team’s warm-up closley, deep in conversation with each other.

“It was a mad 24 hours, but we’re down here now,” said O’Brien before kick-off, his first public words since Sunday’s news.

“This is what the lads are comfortable with, getting out on the pitch, doing our warm-up and get cracking for 7.45. (The players were) shocked on Sunday but as I said to them, this is what you are paid to do, professional footballers, the luckiest people in the world. This is their job, let's go out and perform.”

After a rollercoaster Sunday, his message to the champions was clear – keep calm and carry on.

Taking a quick glance at Shelbourne’s website ahead of kick-off, Duff was still listed as men’s head coach, such was the swiftness of his departure.

Waterford’s match programme was out of date too. Duff was down as manager in the ‘opposition focus’ section, with mentions of ‘Duff’s side’ in the publication now redundant.

O’Brien’s last time as the main man in the dug-out was in last month’s defeat away at Bohs when Duff was suspended, (the night of that viral photo on the grassy bank), but five weeks on from that Dalymount defeat he emerged from the tunnel as Shels caretaker, shaking hands with his opposite number John Coleman before taking his spot in the dug-out.

Naming his first starting XI, the 39-year-old Dubliner rang the changes with five new faces in the line-up four days on from their home defeat to Derry City, a night which marked Duff’s 151st and final game in charge.

The visitors were hoping to bounce back and kick off the post-Duff era with three points on the road and made the perfect start inside three minutes as Harry Wood poked home Tyreke Wilson’s superb cross at the back post.

As the Shels fans celebrated, it seemed fitting that the man who scored the most important goal of Duff’s reign – the late strike that clinched the title in Derry last November – would be the first to net after his resignation.

That astonishing title triumph – the club’s first in 18 years – seems so long ago now. They have been brought back down to earth this term, sitting 14 points off the summit with 13 games remaining, and after the perfect start the visitors were again brought down to earth five minutes later as a terrible defensive error from Kameron Ledwidge allowed Grant Horton to sneak in behind, round Conor Kearns and level the game.

O’Brien paused for a moment before heading back to the dug-out to watch the replay.

The former Bolton, West Ham and Shamrock Rovers player, who was capped five times by Ireland, stood on the edge of his technical area for the majority of the evening, walking calmly to the dressing room as the referee blew for the interval.

If the first-half kicked off with a bang, the second proved even more frantic as barely 60 seconds after Blues skipper Pádraig Amond put his side in front – pouncing after Kearns spilled Conan Noonan’s effort – Wood levelled the contest as he converted Ali Coote’s cross.

O’Brien bowed his head and applauded his team, before Wood grabbed the ball and whacked it high up into the sky, which appeared like a pure release of the emotions built up over the last day or so.

As both James Norris and Dan Kelly went inches away to an injury-time winner, the full-time whistle allowed the travelling crowd to release their own emotions too, as they applauded their team off. Little did they know that when they booked their tickets to Waterford, it would mark the first step into a brave new world for the champions.

It’s a trip west to Galway up next on Friday, then a home date with Cork the following week. After that? The small matter of their Champions League first round qualifier against Linfield in 15 days’ time, not to mention the €800k on the line. For all at Tolka, the only option is to keep on keeping on as life without Duff began. Waterford FC: McMullan; Horton (McCormack 83), McDonald (White 84), Leahy, Burke, Dempsey (Boyle 61); Lonergan, Olayinka, Glenfield (McMenamy 72), Noonan; Amond.

Shelbourne: Kearns, Gannon, Barrett, Ledwidge; Caffrey (Kelly 61), Lunney, Coyle (Chapman 74), Wilson (Norris 61); Coote (Boyd 74), Wood; Odubeko (Martin 85).

Ref: D Toland