Kenny’s dismal Rovers return
SHAMROCK ROVERS 2 BRAY WANDERERS 0
THE fact that it could have been much worse proved to be little consolation for the travelling Seagulls fans as they trudged out of Tallaght Stadium with their tails between their legs on Tuesday last.
In this fixture’s predecessor, Bray Wanderers produced what was arguably their performance of the season to come from behind and wipe the floor with Shamrock Rovers at the Carlisle Grounds.
At the Dublin venue last week though, there was no evidence to suggest another comeback would be mounted when Brandon Miele opened the scoring after just five minutes. Ex-Seagull Gary Shaw then drove what would prove to be the final nail in the coffin after just 20 minutes to set up 70 minutes of target practice for the Hoops in which they fell incredibly short of the mark.
Bray’s evening started on a bad foot when Keith Buckley – a doubt pre-match – injured himself in the warm-up and was replaced in the starting XI by John Sullivan who was tasked being a makeshift right-back.
Bray’s patched up defence – which also featured midfielder Karl Moore at left-back – was breached at the first opportunity. Ronan Finn tried to be the architect with a pass intended for Shaw. It struck the Rovers frontman and Conor Kenna seemed to freeze and he was punished as Miele swept home.
An ominous stat for Bray was that in the prior 21 occasions where Miele had scored, Rovers had won each and every one of them.
The traffic was predominately one-way. Miele and Simon Madden linked brilliantly down the right flank and the latter’s cross was met by Burke but it wasn’t the finest header of his career and it sailed wide.
Finn’s string-pulling act saw him grab an assist in the 20th minute. He slid a pass through for Shaw. The target man isn’t known as a speed demon but he had enough in the tank to latch onto the ball and there was enough power behind the shot to take it past Peter Cherrie despite the Scot getting a hand to it. Kenna did his utmost to hook it off the line but he couldn’t.
Miele and Madden combined excellently again to almost set up a third but Finn nodded narrowly wide after being found by a cross from the right flank.
Wanderers almost halved the deficit in the 33rd minute but another former employer of the Co. Wicklow club scuppered them as McCabe’s in-swinging corner was headed away from under his own crossbar by David Webster.
It took another Rovers clearance to keep their two-goal lead intact at the interval. McCabe again delivered from wide and this time it was sailing towards the far corner but Finn cleared the danger this time with the crossbar mere inches from his head.
Miele, Burke and Dean Clarke all declined opportunities early in the second period before an Aaron Greene flag kick was headed over by Tim Clancy.
The John-Sullivan-at-rightback experiment was deemed a failure after he received a roasting and he was put out of his misery in the 63rd minute when he was replaced by Derek Foran, despite the presence of Hugh Douglas on the bench.
Rovers continued to pepper Peter Cherrie’s goal and only the woodwork denied them a third with 12 minutes to play. Michael O’Connor outpaced Mark Salmon to latch onto Trevor Clarke’s flighted pass. His angled effort bested Cherrie but not his post as the frustration rumbled on for Rovers.
There were 1,758 people present at the Dublin venue where Shamrock Rovers hall of famer Harry Kenny endured an uncomfortable evening.
Shamrock Rovers: 1. Tomer Chencinski; 17. Simon Madden, 6. Roerto Lopes, 4. David Webster, 3. Luke Byrne; 8. Ronan Finn, 7. Ryan Connolly; 10. Brandon Miele, 28. Graham Burke, 20. Trevor Clarke; 14. Gary Shaw. Subs: Michael O’Connor for Shaw (62); Sam Bone for Burke (87). Not used: Kevin Horgan, Daniel Devine, Sean Heaney, James Doona, Sean Boyd.
Bray Wanderers: 1. Peter Cherrie; 3. John Sullivan, 21. Tim Clancy, 4. Conor Kenna, 10. Karl Moore; 8. Mark Salmon, 7. Ryan Brennan; 9. Aaron Greene, 11. Gary McCabe, 16. Dylan Connolly; 17. Ger Pender. Subs: Derek Foran for Sullivan (62); Jason Marks for Pender (71); Darragh Noone for Salmon (83). Not used: Lee Steacy, Hugh Douglas, Kevin Lynch, Anthony Flood. Referee: Ray Matthews. Venue: Tallaght Stadium, Dublin.