FIGHT CLUB
Resilient Rovers come from two down to stun Derry
HALF an hour into this roller-coaster ride and Stephen Bradley cut the look of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
At 2-0 down, Shamrock Rovers were a shadow of the side that tormented Slovan Bratislava and were playing like a team with just three wins in their previous nine league games.
An interrupted and – from the stands at least – slightly panicked build-up ended in a remarkable come-from-behind win after a show of strength from the champions.
Graham Burke and Ronan Finn cancelled out Ronan Boye and Junior Ogedi-uzokwe early goals and super subs Rory Gaffney and Richie Towell sealed the points.
Speculation earlier in the day of a possible Covid matter in the Rovers camp was only heightened when two buses arrived carrying one of the club’s underage teams.
The senior players all travelled to Derry independently, by car. And the confusion grew when Sean Gannon didn’t feature having been named in the starting team. He took a peripheral role in the warmup and Finn started instead. Towell wasn’t named on the team-sheet at all, but made a significant impact.
A multitude of headaches, it seems, but nothing like the one dished out in the end to Ruaidhri Higgins after Derry blew their commanding lead.
They certainly deserved their electric start as they showed far more guile in the final third and gave the Rovers rearguard a torrid time.
Junior and Will Fitzgerald combined to tee up Boyce in the 21st minute and the fullback stabbed home his fifth of the season from close range.
Burke – who scored a wonder goal from the halfway line on his last visit to the Brandywell – was the Hoops’ brightest spark.
And he tested Nathan Gartside before his key goal three minutes before half-time that gave the visitors something to cling to.
Because up to that point, Rovers struggled to capitalise on the possession they had whereas Derry were always menacing in and around the penalty box.
Forwards Junior, Fitzgerald and James Akintunde combined to great effect in that regard – but their influence wouldn’t last. Junior – back on Foyleside for a second spell having joined on loan from Dundalk – forced Alan Mannus into a good save on the half hour. And he then beat the
Rovers goalkeeper from the penalty spot a minute later to send the restricted 500 fans wild.
Roberto Lopes grappled with Junior in the box and was deemed to have pulled the Derry ace to the turf and was booked. Junior kept his cool to put Derry two up.
Higgins’ side attacked in waves, but were dealt a reality check when Burke slotted home Finn’s low cross before the break to give an out-of-sorts Rovers side something to fight for.
Gaffney and Towell replaced Lee Grace and Danny Mandroiu at half-time as Bradley rolled the dice.
And it had the desired effect as the champions were suddenly playing with purpose and got their rewards 11 minutes after the restart. Aaron Greene and Liam Scales combined well down the left and the latter cut a ball across the six-yard box for skipper Finn to bury.
And Rovers were not finished there. They were ruthless and took the lead in the 62nd minute.
Burke’s clever, lofted ball over sleepy defenders set Gaffney free and the big striker blasted an unstoppable, angled shot past Gartside to silence the Brandywell.
And Towell added a fourth with 15 minutes to play. Slipped through, he powered free and, while he had Gaffney for company, his spot was picked and he stuck to his guns to bookend a remarkable game.