With Bohemians\u2019 last-gasp win over Drogheda<\/a> and St Pat’s getting the better of the Hoops<\/a> last week to close the gap, substitute John McGovern\u2019s double inside five minutes eased some recent jitters while also ending Waterford\u2019s 13-game unbeaten streak.<\/p>\n Speaking to RT\u00c9 Sport\u2019s Tony O\u2019Donoghue after the game, Bradley was asked if he was feeling the pressure after recent dropped points sparked a title race when it appeared to be nothing more than a procession for the holders.<\/p>\n “This isn\u2019t pressure,” he insisted. “I have genuinely felt pressure, real-life pressure. This is enjoyment, this is fun.<\/p>\n “We all want to win. What any other team does is irrelevant to us. It always has been. Our biggest challenge is us. If we do our business, it\u2019s irrelevant what anyone else does. If we don\u2019t do our business, other people become irrelevant.”<\/p>\n Bradley, seeking a sixth title as Rovers manager, paid tribute to his players as they look to continue domestic dominance.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s incredible character from the players,” he said. “I said it a few weeks ago, I don\u2019t understand how people can question the character of this group.<\/p>\n “You don\u2019t stay at the top of the mountain if you don\u2019t have character. You need quality, but you need character, and this group has that in bucket loads.”<\/p>\n Bradley\u2019s opposite number, Graham Coughlan, has turned Waterford\u2019s fortunes completely around since taking over from Jon Daly in early May.<\/p>\n He expressed some disappointment that his side could not see out a game in which they led twice \u2013 but admitted that Rovers\u2019 resilience is what makes them such worthy champions.<\/p>\n “Naturally you’re disappointed,” Coughlan told RT\u00c9 Sport. “We’ve been unbeaten in three months. The last team to beat us was actually Rovers at home.<\/p>\n “The run the lads have gone on, what the lads have done for us has been absolutely unbelievable. The resilience, the character to get back in the game tonight. To go ahead one-nil, and then to go back ahead 2-1.<\/p>\n “We’re obviously naturally disappointed, Tony. It’s one of those things. We should’ve been better in certain areas, in certain aspects of our play, but I thought our game plan our tactics, our setup, I thought had had Rovers in trouble.<\/p>\n “But that’s what good teams do, and that’s where the champions and everybody will see that.<\/p>\n “Everybody will know that. Good players come off the bench and win games. Good teams find a way, and fair play to them. Look, you have to take your hat off to them.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley insists he isn’t feeling any pressure as his side came from behind twice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-629202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Dublin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/002508d8-614.jpg\"\/)
\nJohn McGovern celebrates making it 3-2 against Waterford<\/p>\n