Shaw delighted with Euro victory after Hoops dig deep
Credit: Laszlo Geczo (ETPhotos)
Gary Shaw led the line once again for Shamrock Rovers as the Hoops progressed into the second qualifying round of the Europa League after a 1-0 second leg win over Icelandic side Stjarnan in Tallaght on Thursday evening.
Shaw had set them on their way to the 2-0 aggregate victory with the winner in Reykjavik in the first leg last week and Graham Burke’s second leg goal secured Rovers’ first home and away win in a European tie since 2003. The Hoops will face Czech outfit Mladá Boleslav next week.
Extratime.ie caught up with Hoops frontman Shaw in the immediate aftermath of Thursday's Europa League qualifier triumph – a win that earned Rovers €225,000 for qualifying for the next round.
“We're delighted with the win,” said Shaw. “We knew to expect another physical battle like the first leg but we dug deep and dug out another victory and clean sheet with Tomer [Checinski] playing great again tonight”
It was Shaw's first half strike in the first leg in Iceland, his seventh goal of the season, that had given the Tallaght side a vital away goal in Iceland and he once again started up front on his own with Graham Burke playing in behind him.
“It is probably a bit tougher playing up front on your own in Europe at times like tonight when you don't know the opposition’s defence as well as you would when playing in the league.
“I had only played against their [Stjarnan] defence once last week and then tonight so there is more unknown”.
Having moved forward their fixture with Bray to last May, Rovers have no league game this weekend – although they will face Celtic in a sold-out friendly in Tallaght on Saturday. The Hoops can now look forward to playing Mladá Boleslav next Thursday in what is a quick turnaround for the club.
“We're looking forward to the next round now and we'll certainly do our homework on the side before next week.”
With Cork City also securing a second leg win, Rovers’ victory made it the 18th time that a League of Ireland side has won both home and away legs in Europe.
