Fenlon and Kenny clash over travel itineraries
A WAR of words has broken out between Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon and his Derry City counterpart, Stephen Kenny, ahead of their crucial League of Ireland clash tonight.
The Gypsies need a win if they are to enter Friday's top-of-the-table tie against Shamrock Rovers with the upper hand in the title race, as they currently trail the Hoops by two points.
And the ante was upped yesterday by Kenny, who poured scorn over events last week which saw Fenlon slam the FAI for not agreeing to switch tonight's fixture to a later date in light of Bohs' hectic schedule.
"There have been a lot of references around the scheduling of this fixture, but if you look at our itinerary we will do twice as much travelling next week, firstly to Belfast for the Linfield game and then we face a 16-hour round-trip to Cork, arriving back at 7am on Wednesday before a game against Rovers on the Friday night.
Problem
"This is a problem that Derry City and Cork face all the time. Dublin clubs play most of their games in the Dublin or greater Dublin area, whereas we have to travel great distances on a regular basis."
Fenlon responded by saying: "The travelling was nothing to do with it. The argument was that a game we had agreed to switch wasn't switched and it was more to do with our schedule.
"I have no problems travelling anywhere with my team; it was nothing to do with travelling, but I'm not really interested in what Stephen has to say, to be honest."
Travelling has, however, caused a problem for Fenlon, who was forced to ask for a 'dig-out' from local businessmen to fund an overnight stay for his players on Foyleside.
- Neil Ahern
