Rovers lead Cork a merry dance
S ROVERS..3 CORK..0 DUNDALK..5 ST PAT’S..0
Shamrock Rovers’ Ethan Boyle (right) celebrates with Aaron Bolger after scoring the second goal of Rovers’ comprehensive victory over Cork City. John Caulfield’s Cork side came into the game on a high after beating Dundalk on Friday but the SSE Airtricity League champions were ambushed by the Hoops at Tallaght Stadium. Meanwhile, Dundalk bounced back from that Cork defeat by hammering St Patrick’s Athletic 5-0 at Oriel Park.
THIS was not the response John Caulfield wanted after Cork City went three points clear at the top of the table with a win over Dundalk on Friday.
The Leesiders’ boss demanded that they build on it with a show of strength in the capital. Instead, they crumbled, and with Dundalk running riot against St Patrick’s Athletic, it means that their stay at the summit of the Premier Division was a shortlived one.
For Shamrock Rovers head coach Stephen Bradley, however, this was exactly what was required as the Hoops appear set to get their season back on track after steamrolling the champions in front of Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill.
The Ireland boss had just taken his seat when Graham Burke hit a third-minute screamer and two set-piece strikes from defenders Ethan Boyle and Roberto Lopes either side of half-time secured their first win of the month. April was a rotten period for Rovers and after six games without a win in all competitions they at least signed off with a bang.
This performance must be the blueprint if they are to have any grand designs on making a mark for the remainder of this season. They are still 10 points off the leaders but Bradley seems to have found the perfect formula with this 3-5-2 formation.
With Ronan Finn, Greg Bolger and 18-year-old Aaron Bolger (no relation) the three interchanging effortlessly in the middle, Rovers had complete control against the champions. So much so that with the Hoops 2-0 up at halftime, Cork replaced captain Conor McCormack with attacker Karl Sheppard in a bid to get back into the game. They couldn’t, and the home side deserved this victory.
Rovers brought an end to their April slump with a draw away to Derry City on Friday and while Bradley was adamant his side were worth the victory, they were unable to make their dominance count with a goal.
Burke broke the deadlock with a powerful finish that seemed to be a release of pentup tension from that stalemate. He collected the ball in the middle of the park, bought himself an extra yard with a clever shimmy, before letting rip with a perfectly-executed shot from distance with his weaker right foot.
The ball arrowed into the top corner for his ninth goal of the season and Rovers were up and running
The younger Bolger, who will sit his Leaving Certificate next month, was particularly impressive in the opening 45 minutes but, as the game wore on, it was namesake Greg who showed all his experience to help Rovers see this out.
Having a three-goal lead for the last half an hour certainly helped and Caulfield would have been fuming at the manner in which his side gifted their opponents the second and third goals, both of which came from set-pieces.
The first, on 24 minutes, would have been particularly galling for a team that had four clean sheets on the bounce. That record was ripped up by Burke and when Boyle nipped in at the near post to flick home a Sean Kavanagh corner, Cork had a serious mountain to climb.
However, as much as Rovers were in control they still relied on goalkeeper Kevin Horgan to make three superb saves from Garry Buckley, Graham Cummins and Barry McNamee to ensure they stayed out in front.
Holding onto leads has been difficult for the Hoops — bitter rivals Bohemians came from a goal down to win 2-1 here only a few weeks ago — but when Lopes prodded home on the hour their work was done. And in impressive style, too. SHAMROCK ROVERS: Horgan; Boyle, O’Brien, Lopes, Grace, Kavanagh; Bolger, Finn (c) (Miele 82), Burke (McAllister 74); Shaw. Scorers: Burke 3, Shaw 24, Lopes 60 CORK CITY: McNulty; Horgan, McCarthy, McLoughlin, Kane (Keohane h-t); Sadlier, McCormack (c) (Sheppard h-t), Morrissey (O’Hanlon 67), Buckley, McNamee; Cummins. Referee: R Rogers (Dublin) Attendance: 1,931