Bradley calling for more ruthless Rovers

Shamrock Rovers went top of the early season table with a 3-0 home win over Finn Harps on Monday night.

The victory means Rovers have gathered ten points from their first five league games and it was their third clean sheet of the season.

Hoops boss Stephen Bradley though wants his team to be more ruthless. Rovers led Harps 3-0 at half-time, having missed a penalty in the opening 45 minutes, but couldn’t add to their tally in the second half. 

“I’m happy with our play but we still need to be ruthless,” said Bradley of his team that have found the back of the net seven times in their opening five league fixtures. 

“There was a chance to score a few more goals and we didn’t. That is the one bit tonight that makes you feel a bit disappointed. We should have scored more goals. 

“There was a chance to put Finn Harps away for more than what we did but we didn’t. That is something we definitely need to improve on. When there are chances there, you need to take them.”

A crowd of just over 1,500 travelled to Tallaght Stadium on a bitterly cold Monday night for the match and Bradley was pleased with how his team went about their work.

“You can get lured into the false sense that it isn’t a 5,000 crowd, it is not a big buzz about the game. It is a Monday night. It is cold. We didn’t. I thought first half we were excellent and put the game to bed by half time.”

Roberto Lopes opened the scoring after 11 minutes. Dylan Watts missed a penalty before getting Rovers second with Aaron Greene grabbing the third five minutes into first half injury time.

Greene had come back into the team to score his second of the season following his suspension for his much-debated red card in the Dublin derby at Dalymount Park.



“Aaron has been excellent. He has scored again tonight. He could have had two or three. Aaron will score goals. He is quick, he is dynamic and when it is on his left foot he can hit it. 

Friday’s game away to St. Pat’s will be Rovers fifth league fixture 15 days and Rovers will assess if Ethan Boyle will be fit for that game but otherwise they are full strength.

“It is important that we have managed the squad. I believe the squad is really strong. Tonight we made five changes from the team who started against Dundalk and it doesn’t weaken us.

"Everyone has been used in the squad and the minutes are good. It is important because of the high amount of games in such a short amount of time.

“It will be a tough game (against St. Pat’s). They have some good players and are a threat going forward. We are going to have to make sure we are right at it to go and win the game. I believe we are ready.” 

    About Macdara Ferris

    Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile