IT’S NOW OR NEVER
Boyd is determined to get Shels over the line
DAMIEN DUFF likes to rib Sean Boyd by claiming he has become too soft now that he’s a father.
But the fit-again striker has left his manager in no doubt that he’ll put in the hard yards with Shelbourne.
Boyd is back from a calf injury and got another 30 minutes under his belt in last week’s FAI Cup quarter-final defeat away to title rivals Derry City.
Whether that has any psychological impact on the title race remains to be seen, but both Shels and the Candystripes have significant tests tonight.
Shels are away to Galway, having lost on their last visit to Eamonn Deacy Park in April, while Derry host Shamrock Rovers, who will move within a point of them with a win.
And with a precious four-point lead, Boyd knows where exactly the responsibility lies with seven games to go.
Control
“It’s now or never,”he told Star Sport. “We’re running out of weeks where we can put a marker down or put results together and see where we go.
“It’s on the players to really take control. The manager and staff have done everything they can.
“It’s down to the players and they need to step up and take control of the situation because no one else is going to do it for us. If we pass up that opportunity, then it will slip away and we’ll end up regretting it forever.”
Boyd added:“When I was out injured, I was talking to Ronan Finn, who I played with at Shamrock Rovers, and he has won everything in the game.
“He said to me ‘Sean, if you don’t take control of this now and get yourself back fit and play in the remainder of the season, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life’.”
Boyd didn’t need the focus as Duff (inset) and his staff have seen to that throughout the year, but Finn’s message still resonated with the 26-year-old.
Life is good as Boyd and partner Amy welcomed baby Jack to the world, eight months ago now.
“It’s going great,” beamed the big striker.“It has changed me. I’m living my life better and, with Jack, you realise that some things are more important than football or a job.
“I get to go home and play with him every day and see him grow as he’s crawling about the place now and you can’t take your eyes off him.
“Amy has been outstanding, such eye-opening stuff. She’s from Tipperary
and her parents have been brilliant when we’re there, as have my parents up here.
“When you’re having a kid, people are always telling you that your life is over and you’ll never see this and that again, but it’s been amazing.
“The manager tells me the baby has calmed me down too much and having a baby has made me soft! But it’s given me great focus on the pitch too, not
just off it.”
Senior
Boyd grew up around the Rovers squad that kicked on to win four in a row, but left just as Stephen Bradley’s team were about to become kingpins.
With a knee injury put well behind him, the Swords man has now become a senior figure in Duff’s dressing-room at Shels. And with the title run-in heating up, Boyd knows he’s not alone in that regard with Shels preparing to dig deep in Galway tonight.
“These are the games you want to play in — the big nights, and the big games that mean something,” he said. “Galway is one of the toughest games out there and we got battered the last time we went there, so we’re under no illusions to what we’ll face.
“But there are league winners and old pros in our dressing room and that’s going to stand us over the last seven games,” added Boyd.
“Sean Gannon has won the most leagues of anyone in the game, and you’ve Paddy Barrett and Shane Griffin who are also title winners.
“Aiden O’Brien is an Ireland international and has been absolutely brilliant for our dressing room in a short space of time.
“You sometimes see players who have had good careers and they’re coming here and probably think the League of Ireland is crap, but he’s really bought into it.
“And
I’ve not won anything in the game myself,
I’m around long enough at this stage to know how the game works.” while