Shels’ fast start stuns the Hoops
Duff finally breaks his Rovers duck
WHEN Damien Duff appointed Mark Coyle as captain, it reflected the midfielder’s tenacity, tackling and tireless graft – it wasn’t a reflection of his goal contribution.
Against the odds, Coyle crowned his 50th league appearance for the Reds with his second goal, and for good measure, the bald Burt battler almost added another in the second half which would have put the Reds 3-1 up.
A two-goal cushion at that point may have made the closing stages a little less stressful for Duff who counted every second as the new clock at the Ballybough End tick towards 90 minutes.
Even then, Duff had to endure a further eight minutes of stoppage time before overseeing his first league win over the champions at the ninth attempt, which the Reds – and Coyle in particular – were worth.
After this end-to-end thriller in front of a 4,700 sell-out, Rovers find themselves without a win early doors, as they were last season, before finding their stride. It offers encouragement for their rivals.
With a throbbing Tolka expectant, the intentions of Shelbourne were evident from the off as they caught Rovers cold.
Inside 26 minutes, they were two goals up, having missed a penalty, and Conor Kearns was almost a bystander in the Reds’ goal, apart from an assist.
It was a rip-roaring start like no other on their home patch under Duffer – maybe the illuminated clock and scoreboard had something to do with it.
As for Rovers, they turned up for an 8.15pm kick-off instead of 7.45pm.
Defensively, they were exposed in a way that would have been improbable had Pico Lopes been on patrol.
From the first corner, swung in by Tyreke Wilson, Rovers got into an awful tizzy and Lee Grace should have known better than to grab Paddy Barrett under the nose of referee Rob Harvey.
When Grace let go, Barrett flew forward on to the turf with a Swan Lake special. He needn’t have. Harvey had seen the tug and pointed to the spot.
Wilson’s left peg is normally akin to Harry Potter’s wand but it behaved as if cursed by Voldemort as he shovelled the ball wide of the post.
Undeterred, the Reds roared forward. A flowing move ended with Will Jarvis breaking the cover, only for Leon Pohls to save at the expense of a corner.
Danger here, as the great George Hamilton would say. And there was as Wilson’s outswinger broke to Coyle on the right edge of the box.
The skipper took a touch and then let off a right-footer which beat Pohls to his left for a rare goal.
Rovers were rattled, especially across the back three, and unable to repel the Red tide.
JJ Lunney’s pass split the Hoops open on their left flank and Pohls was needed to push away John O’Sullivan’s effort.
A minute later, the Rovers line was breached again when a long clearance from Kearns allowed Jarvis a first run on goal.
The silky touch from Jarvis to take him away from Josh Honohan and Cleary was a thing of beauty. His finish was crisp and cool too, prompting a war dance of delight by Duff on the touchline.
Trailing 2-0, Rovers had a choice – fight or flee. They fought.
Darragh Burns lit the fuse with two left-footers, one of which was beautifully struck, but was a whisker off target.
An error in the box from Barrett allowed substitute Graham Burke to steal in.
As Kearns advanced, Burke’s dinky chip was goal-bound only for Barrett to redeem himself with a relieving goal-line header.
Rory Gaffney was on target before the break as Rovers finished the half on the front foot.
Shels needed to staff the barricades on the restart but the force remained with the champions.
After Dylan Watts smacked a 25-yarder off the crossbar, they pulled a goal back in the 49th minute. Burke, his influence growing, found space on the left before a pin-point cross into the six-yard box saw Gaffney arrive on cue to squeeze the ball home.
The Reds regrouped and Coyle led the resistance with a surging run and drive which Pohls pushed away at full stretch.
The keeper did even better moments later to thwart Shane Farrell before Rovers raised their levels and pinned the Reds back. Kearns was resilient, denying Aaron Greene and then Gaffney right at the death. SHELBOURNE: Kearns; Wilson, Gannon, Barrett, Molloy, Ledwidge; Coyle, Lunney (Hakiki 92), O’Sullivan (Caffrey 55), Smith (Farrell 66), Jarvis (Martin 66). SHAMROCK ROVERS: Pohls; Cleary (Greene 73), Hoare (Burke 36), Grace; Honohan, O’Neill, Watts, Burns, Kavanagh (Poom h/t); Gaffney, Nugent (Kenny79). REFEREE: R Harvey (Dublin).