AAR FOR RESCUE
Greene comes off bench to head equaliser for champions after Gullan hits Lilywhites stunner
DUNDALK tried to take a Hammer to Shamrock Rovers’ opening night ambitions but were left feeling Greene after missing out on a rare Tallaght win.
New signing Jamie Gullan is known as The Hammer following his time with Raith Rovers and Hibernian and he burst the Rovers net with a stunning first-half free kick.
But Hoops’ half-time sub Aaron Greene pulled the champions level just before the hour to thwart the Lilywhites, who had not won here in their previous eight league attempts.
They hadn’t even scored a goal at the Dublin venue under Stephen O’donnell but Gullan at least corrected that statistic and the powerful Scot looks a handful.
Both sides could have nicked the win as Ryan O’kane headed off Leon Pohls’ post while Josh Honohan and Sean Hoare both had chances for the hosts, who suffered a double injury whammy with Neil Farrugia and Trevor Clarke crocked.
Before the game, the Rovers fans in the South Stand unfurled an enormous banner that read ‘They Said Our Race Was Run…. we’ve Only Just Begun’.
That was a reference to last season when they failed to win in their opening six league games and yet still walked the league to claim four titles in a row. The champions were not as slick here as they were a week ago in the President’s Cup win over St Pat’s but still dominated for long spells on a costly night.
There won’t be any cause for alarm and both sides were applauded off in a game where Daryl Horgan was a real driving force for Dundalk until his late knock.
It didn’t matter whether he had the ball at his feet or not, he was a menace. First, he drilled an early shot from distance at Pohls and then he forced a turnover deep in Rovers territory after a creasing tackle on Gary O’neill.
And he was involved in the build-up to that sublime opener after 33 minutes, winning the 25-yard free kick off a Hoare foul.
Gullan lived up to his nickname and thumped an unstoppable shot high into Pohls’ net to silence the South Stand behind that goal.
The Hoops had bossed possession and territory up to that point and while on-loan Nottingham Forest goalkeeper George Shelvey wasn’t threatened, Rovers were building.
Striker Rory Gaffney was his usual all-action self in attack and his battle with Dundalk stalwart Andy Boyle was a treat.
Had his 19th-minute shot – after a one-two with Farrugia – not been blocked, both Sean Kavanagh and Conan Noonan were lurking in the box ready to capitalise.
But the momentum Rovers were
trying to generate was derailed when Farrugia sustained a game-ending injury after just 20 minutes.
The flying winger rode two tackles as Zak Bradshaw was incorrectly penalised for fouling Farrugia on the edge of the area.
Farrugia’s fall was theatrical enough (right) but his landing was awkward, suffering a shoulder injury in the process that required a stretcher and a nineminute stoppage.
As Rovers tried to regroup,
Gullan twisted the knife with ruthless precision and suddenly Dundalk were playing with a swagger not seen up to then.
And even more woe was heaped upon the Hoops when Farrugia’s replacement Clarke went off crocked himself just before the half-time break.
But it wasn’t detrimental to their efforts of launching a comeback, and nor was O’kane’s thumping header off Pohl’s post early in the second half. Horgan and Gullan traded a series of sweet one-twos and the 17-times capped Ireland international, 31, whipped in a cross which O’kane latched onto only to see his effort fizz back into play.
But Rovers – with Greene on at the break for the unfortunate Clarke – were dialling up the pressure as Honohan headed a yard wide before the Hoops pulled level in the 59th minute.
Noonan’s whipped free kick could have been cleared but Dundalk were all over the place defensively and couldn’t deal with it.
Greene’s quick thinking left Robbie Benson for dead and the 34-year-old striker had all the time he wanted to bury a near post header to restore parity and salvage a point.