Shams too comfortable on the ball, but Rovers’ defence can be pleased with their display

SLIGO Rovers’ trend of poor results against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium continued on Friday evening last.

Brandon Miele’s goal early in the second half sufficed as the Hoops recorded their tenth top flight win in 15 attempts over the Bit O’Red at the Whitestown Way venue since their move there in 2009.

The most obvious talking point and the moment that really decided the fate of the game was John Russell’s 24th minute red card.

His ankle high mistimed challenge on Roberto Lopes was never going to summon anything but disapproval from referee Neil Doyle who was reaching for his back pocket even before Lopes had landed in a bundle on the turf in front of him.

There was a air of misfortune about the tackle. Russell wouldn’t have intended to do what he did and it seemed as if Lopes just pulled the ball away from where John landed at the very last moment.

But meant or not, once you catch someone that high up particularly with studs ‘ showing’ you’re always going to tempt the referee into flashing a red. The Galway man does need to keep an eye on his disciplinary record this year.

Friday’s red adds to Russell’s card total which now stands at four yellows and one red in just nine games.

The incident was unfortunate also in that Rovers did look dangerous on the break with the full compliment of players.

There were a few worries early on as Gary Shaw and Graham Burke both threatened.

Rovers’ central pairing of Kyle Callan- McFadden and Mick Leahy impressed during the second half assault on their goal against Bohs at the Showgrounds the week previous but again looked distressed and somewhat disorganised especially after the red card.

Our midfield was overrun due to Liam Martin and Kieran Sadlier staying so wide while I don’t think Raff Cretaro really knew what his job was when he went back to help out the overwhelmed Craig Roddan following the red.

Roddan had another poor game in the middle and continues to struggle with the pace of the game. Maybe Gary Boylan ( pictured) would mould into that role a little easier given his abilities both defensively and on the ball? Certainly something for the new man to take a look at when he gets here. The feeling in the press area on Friday night that just one home goal would have been enough. Again the events which preceded didn’t do much to help but Shams were far too comfortable on the ball and didn’t have many problems in keeping hold of it. In the end it was the form of Micheál Schlingermann who kept Rovers from sinking further with a string of wonderful saves. But maybe he could have done better in dealing with the goal? Without the benefit of a replay I thought the Kiltimagh man was maybe caught in his positioning in the lead up to the goal. Schlingermann seemed to have picked up a starting position too close to his near post which left him scarpering to get a touch to Miele’s effort when it arrived. Credit to him though as he pulled off a number of great stops to keep Rovers at least in touching distance. The best of these coming just past the hour when he denied Burke what looked like a certain goal, somehow clawing away the midfielder’s header from point blank range with a swift swipe of his arm. It was all one way traffic after the goal. Rovers were pegged back and unable to get a foothold in the game with Jonah Ayunga seeing very little of the ball in the second period. I can see why Declan McIntyre didn’t want to change things too much. The tactic of allowing the opposition the ball before attempting to break worked against Bohs but with a man down, a lack of creativity and ability to win back and hold on to the ball, that philosophy was unlikely to pay off. McIntyre said after the game that the withdrawal of both Cretaro and Liam Martin was to protect them against suspension ahead of this weekend but maybe he should have been in the there and now..? Would going for broke and bringing on an extra attacker made a difference? Even with the numerical disadvantage, such a move may have forced Stephen Bradley into a rethink and also could have slowed down Shams’ momentum.