Tierney rejoined Bohs in June after a stint with Motherwell and a loan spell at Walsall and while some players take time to find their feet after a move back home, Tierney (23) has taken up where he left off, delivering a two-goal salvo in Friday’s 4-0 win over UCD which puts Bohs into the last four of the FAI Cup.
“He’s very mature, he’s very good on the game and he’s still very young,” assistant manager Stephen O’Donnell said after the UCD win.
“He came home, the timing of young players coming home, they generally come home in the summer, mid-season over here but they’ve not had a pre-season but he still has loads of hunger, him and Dawson Devoy, to get on in their careers and really maximise their careers and the whole team getting into a rhythm.
“He’s aware of where the space is, he’s just clever, a clever footballer and it’s great to have him, he makes differences, he affects games, they are invaluable, them types of players.
“Rossi is mercurial, he has that timing of drifting into the box. If you go through all our games he’s either scored, taken down for the penalty against Rovers in the first round of the Cup, or had chances in every game, and he’s just a very clever footballer, a bright footballer. You can’t teach that timing into the box, arriving on the end of things.”
Bohs were clear favourites to get the better of second tier side UCD but had to battle, getting in front thanks to Tierney’s goal and then surviving a scare when the Students almost scored early in the second half. Tierney’s second goal eased the nerves as Bohs then added late goals from Alex Greive and Martin Miller, earning a place in the semi-final for the third time in four seasons..
“UCD are a good team, they ask you a lot of questions, in possession and for us out of possession. They make the pitch really big, they are a good team and give you a lot of headaches on that big pitch, and they are very young, they will only go from strength to strength,” added O’Donnell.
“The first 40 minutes we were very good, could have been a couple of goals up. It went a bit scrappy in the last five of the first half. The second half we didn’t start great but got the second goal and we could have been better when they went down to 10 men. You still have to respect the game and drag them on that big pitch, they stayed offensive in their set-up, we could have been slicker in possession but if you’d offered us that, a 4-0 win with a clean sheet I’d have snapped your hand off.”
