RORY GAFFNEY is not fretting about Shamrock Rovers’ slow start to the season — as he is too busy relishing a new beginning at the club.
Gaffney, 35, did not play past April last year because of an ankle injury, with surgery delayed in case he was needed for the closing stages of the title race.
And the veteran striker had to prove himself in order to convince the club of the merits of handing him a new deal which was done just over a fortnight ago.
He has come off the bench in the last three games as Rovers drew with Shelborne, lost to Sligo Rovers and, on Friday, beat St Pat’s.
And the Galway man said: “I came on last week against Shelbourne and it was a very tough game to come on in and I couldn’t get my legs, I couldn’t get my lungs and when you touched the ball it was backs to the wall for the last few minutes.
“Against Sligo, we were trying to chase an equaliser and they were defending very well.
“They were tough games to come on for and Friday as well because there’s no easy games in this league. There really isn’t and the results show it.
“I know people are talking about our bad start but this time last year we lost to Shelbourne away — now we drew.
“Last year, we took just one point against St Pat’s, we lost three times, and they are two of the title challengers that you’re expecting to be up there. I think we’ll be all right.”
And the Tuam native was quietly confident he would be all right too once he had adequate time to recover.
He said: “I probably could have made sure I was back for the start of the season but we somehow got dragged into a title challenge at the back end of last year and I had a procedure planned on my ankle which I could have got done earlier.
“I got it done the morning after the season ended.
“I trained the last week of the season and if there was an injury crisis, I would make myself available.
“I suppose I lost five or six weeks and then ended up rolling it again in pre-season and lost another week to ten days.
“If we hadn’t got back in the title race I would have been fit in early January.
“I didn’t want to go through another year like last year, breaking down and trying to get back.
“It wouldn’t be fair on the club to give me a contract until I was able to prove my fitness.
“I’m 35 and basically hadn’t played a game without an injury since the third game of the season last year.
“The procedure I had, I had it on my other ankle about ten years ago so I knew what the rehab was like and knew it was just a matter of getting it done.
“I kind of knew the body was in a good place and it was just training and getting a bit of volume in my legs and showing the management I could still run.”
In the meantime, he had missed out on all 16 of Rovers’ European games, although he did travel to some away showdowns along with the club’s other injured players.
Gaffney admitted: “It was hard to enjoy it, watching it last year but it was great for the lads.
“I had a great time in Vienna! Myself and Danny Mandroiu had a good night the night before, we got to know the locals!
“The motivation was to get back and try to have another go at it this year.”
The former Salford City and Bristol Rovers frontman is determined to savour this season but struggles to get his head around sharing a dressing room with two 16-year-olds in Michael Noonan and Victor Ozhianvuna.
He said: “It’s frightening really to be competing at the level they’re at at 16, I was playing third tier of Galway junior football, coming off the bench, so they’re a bit ahead of me.”
That was with Tuam Celtic and he added: “I was going all right. I was a tricky winger.”
Noonan, meanwhile, was converting a penalty in a shootout against Molde as a Transition Year student.
Gaffney joked: “Sixteen and after 120 minutes, he rifles one into the back of the net.
“My leg would have fallen off if I tried that after 120 minutes.”
