Rovers surge clear at top of the table
ON and on Shamrock Rovers roll, sweeping all before them with goals in each half by Sean Kavanagh and Roberto Lopes racking up a facile win last night.
Aaron Drinan’s consolation in stoppage time was the only effort on target by Waterford in the entire 94 minutes at Tallaght Stadium as Rovers’ seventh win in-a -row keeps them well ahead of the chasing pack. They’ve craved success in Dublin 24 since Michael O’Neill’s glory days of 2010 and 2011, struggling to shake off the accusations of limited ambitions left behind by the current Northern Ireland boss.
Here’s their chance to mothball that charge. The struggles of Dundalk and Cork City elsewhere mean they’ve got plenty
Stephen Bradley planned to reward the stunning recent form of his players by sticking with the same team that recorded their first victory in six years at Cork City last week.
That was until the warm-up when Greg Bolger pulled up with an injury. Such are the luxury of options at Bradley’s disposal, however, he could spring the talented Dylan Watts from his backup cast to fit seamlessly in.
For all the attacking flair of this Hoops during their trailblazing start to the season, the defensive side of their repertoire has also improved. Just four goals were conceded in their opening 10 games.
That’s why it was surprising to see them exposed so easily after only three minutes when Waterford should have forged ahead.
On the break from a Rovers corner, Drinan broke at pace and released his Ireland U21 teammate Zach Elbouzedi into the Rovers half. The former West Brom trainee didn’t have much time to get his shot away but his ferocious effort on the run rose a yard above the crossbar of Alan Mannus.
That would the most Alan Reynolds’ side could conjure in the first half as they were thereafter hemmed in, unable to stem the flow of attacks. Still, it time for the hosts to hit their stride and their first chance came through a potential own-goal.
Trevor Clarke’s cross appeared to be innocuous until Dean Delaney almost steered it past Matthew Connor. It’s been a bad enough for the Delaney name in football without that misfortune befalling it.
Thankfully for the Hoops they persevered with utilising the nous on Clarke on the left and it soon paid off. Jack Byrne has predicted his Hoops teammate to become the next League of Ireland graduate in the Ireland squad and his latest cameo came in front of the next manager Stephen Kenny sitting in the stand.
An intricate exchange with Aaron Greene allowed Clarke dart behind the Waterford right-back and his cut-back found Sean Kavanagh 10 yards out. Needing just one touch to control the ball, the ex-Fulham first-teamer coolly stroked his shot through the legs of Maxim Kouogun and into the far bottom corner.
Rovers were getting plenty of joy through that outlet and might have grabbed a second on the half hour. Once again, Feely was blindsided by Clarke’s run but the leftback was unable to steer Joey O’Brien’s cross over the line.
It was a similar case for Aaron Greene from closer range approaching the break. Ronan Finn performed the spadework by cutting to the endline on the right. His low cross beat Connor but somehow the Rovers striker kept the ball out, rather than putting it in, from just a yard out.
It mattered little as Lopes underlined their second half dominance by nodding home Byrne’s corner. Drinan nicked a late goal by pouncing on Lee Grace’s hesitancy, not that it was going to ruin the Rovers roll. SHAMROCK ROVERS: A Mannus; J O’Brien, R Lopes, L Grace, T Clarke; A McEneff, D Watts (J Coustrain 68); J Byrne (B Kavanagh 86), R Finn, S Kavanagh; A Greene (O Vojic 80). Scorers: Kavanagh, Lopes WATERFORD: M Connor; R Feely (G Poynton 85), M Kouogun, D Delaney, K Lynch; B Héry (C Galvin 69), S Duggan; K Chvedukas (I Akinade 69), JJ Lunney, Z Elbouzedi; A Drinan. Referee: Rob Hennessey (Clare). Scorer: Drinan. Attendance: 2821.