ROVERS RISERS

FIRST half goals from Roberto Lopes, Dylan Watts and Aaron Greene sent Shamrock Rovers top of the table last night.

Understrength and far from happy at being back to Dublin for the second successive Monday, Finn Harps finished the match with manager Ollie Horgan in the stand.

With five changes to the side that drew with champions Dundalk on Friday, Rovers were ahead from the first corner of the game on 11 minutes.

Sean Kavanagh worked it short with Jack Byrne before picking out Aaron Mceneff on the edge of the area.

The midfielder’s low shot wasn’t gathered by keeper Peter Burke, allowing Lopes to tap the loose ball over the line.

Watts, who had just landed a clever chip on to the roof of Burke’s net, then wasted a chance to double Rovers’ lead from a 26th minute penalty.

Mceneff won the spot kick when clipped inside the area by Harps’ skipper Gareth Harkin but Watts blazed it carelessly over the bar. However, the Hoops’ No.7 made amends on 38 minutes to increase the dominant home side’s lead.

Debutant central defender Harry Ascroft miscontrolled Harkin’s pass in the middle of the park and, after Dan Carr stole the ball, Watts went through to drill a low shot beyond Burke.

The Harps keeper kept the score at 2-0 two minutes later, acrobatically stretching to his right to bat away another Watts drive that looked destined for the top corner.

The game was all but over in stoppage time at the end of the half.

Harps first had the injured Harkin taken off on a stretcher on 48 minutes.

Two minutes later Greene powered on to Kavanagh’s ball down the left to confidently crash a diagonal shot across Burke to the far corner of the net.

Rovers should have added to their margin just past the hour mark but Greene’s blasted volley came down off the underside of the bar and out.

Harps’ woe was compounded on 69 minutes when boss Horgan was sent off for dissent.