ROVERS’ RONAN IN LIKE FINN
GRAHAM BURKE didn’t even have to score for Shamrock Rovers to revive their European hopes by beating St Pat’s. Burke had 48 hours earlier become the first League of Ireland representative to feature under Martin O’Neill, albeit in an unofficial Ireland game against Celtic, and he had a spring in his step. The Dubliner’s 18th-minute corner landed perfectly for Lee Grace to nod in the opener and his free-kick delivery early in the second half set up Sam Bone to smash in the third. In between, a flowing counter-attack led to Ronan Finn making it 2-0 during first-half stoppage time. Despite this being only their second victory in 11 games, it was sweet for Rovers to prevent their southside rivals leapfrogging Waterford into third spot. The Saints were chasing a fifth win on the bounce but picked the wrong time to lose form. Burke’s corner caught them cold for the breakthrough. Centre-back Grace was allowed drift across his marker Lee Desmond and flick his header into the far corner with minimal effort. The Saints couldn’t fashion much in their attempts to level, save for a drilled shot by captain Ian Bermingham which whistled past the near post, and they were exposed once again, this time on the counterattack. Full-back Sean Kavanagh got the move motoring from his own half, eventually finding Carr who crossed for the onrushing Finn to poke his first-time effort home. Goalkeeper Tyson Farago was slow in reacting to the danger and he failed to dominate his box again for the third six minutes into the second half. When Pat’s couldn’t clear Burke’s free kick, Bone was first there to wallop in the third from 10 yards on 51 minutes. SHAMROCK ROVERS: Chencinski; Boyle, Grace, Lopes, Kavanagh; Bone (McAllister 58), G Bolger; Miele (Coustrain 26), Finn, Burke (L Byrne 65); Carr. Scorers: Grace 17, Finn 45+1, Bone 51. ST PATRICK’S ATH: Farago; Madden, Toner, Desmond, Bermingham; R Brennan, Lennon; C Byrne, Markey (Fagan 55), Keegan (Doona 46); T Byrne. Referee: Rob Rogers (Dublin) Attendance: 3,015.