Season Review 2020: Shamrock Rovers II

Team: Shamrock Rovers II

Head Coach: Aidan Price

Top Scorer: Brandon Kavanagh (Nine goals)

Stadium: Tallaght Stadium

Highest Attendance: 312 (1-1 draw with Galway United 29 February - their only home game not behind-closed-doors) 

Lowest Attendance: 0 

Star Player: Brandon Kavanagh

Head Coach Aidan Price was lucky to be able to call upon the reasonably experienced Brandon Kavanagh for his young First Division team. The 20-year-old had made 16 appearances in the Premier Division prior to this season.

This year Kavanagh scored nine goals from his 16 First Division games - the most appearances of any Rovers player in the second tier this season (equal with captain Darragh Nugent).

Kavanagh would most likely have had little game time this year without this second team - he did make one substitute appearance for Stephen Bradley’s side in the top flight - so the Hoops II team provided him opportunity for competitive games, all the time still being part of the Rovers training regime in Roadstone.



Best Young Player: Sean Brennan  

19-year-old Sean Brennan was a joy to watch in midfield for Rovers this season. Like Kavanagh, Brennan had League of Ireland experience previously having played at Longford Town last season. Rovers signed from Southampton on loan and he was the fulcrum in Price’s talented midfield making 14 starts in the First Division.

Best New Signing: Kevin Zefi

Price gave Zefi his debut in the first game back after the COVID-19 breakdown. The 15-year-old made eight appearances off the bench as well as starting three games. He scored in the 4-0 away win over Athlone Town and in the 2-1 loss to Longford.

That goal against Athlone made him the youngest ever goalscorer in League of Ireland history as at the age of 15 years and 206 days old he beat the record previously held by Limerick’s Steven McGann in 2010, by almost half a year.

What we expected they would do:



Ahead of the start of the season, the extratime.ie team predicted that the Hoops would finish seventh (see here) and they finished just one position below that. 

What they actually did:

SSE Airtricity League 

Unlike in 2014 when Rovers had a B team in the second tier of the league for a single season, their inclusion this time caused controversy with the clubs that made up the First Division Alliance unhappy with the application process and questioned the sporting integrity of the team’s inclusion.

Ultimately decided to play under protest which manifested itself when Longford Town omitted Shamrock Rovers’ name from their match programme on the opening night of the season.

Having named a 47 players squad for the First Division, they ended up using 34 players in their 18 league games but they didn’t overload their team with players from Stephen Bradley’s first team.

The Hoops II squad was made up of players born since 2000 and in each match could also include one overage player along with an ‘overage’ goalkeeper - 24-year-old Leon Pohls lined out ten times in the First Division (without making an appearance for Stephen Bradley’s side this season).

Only in three matches did Price bring an overage outfield player from the Premier Division. Liam Scales played once and scored in their 2-2 draw at home to Drogheda and Sean Kavanagh lined out twice towards the end of the season as he returned from a long term injury. 

From the First Division squad only Dean Williams start matches in both divisions - five in the Premier and six in the First . Thomas Oluwa (4) Brandon Kavanagh (2), Max Murphy (2), and Darragh Nugent (2) all made substitute appearances in the Premier Division off the bench.

It took them till their sixth game of the season to get their first win but were competitive throughout the year. They left a dozen points out on the pitch conceding crucial late goals in the final ten minutes of six matches.

Their wins came against the teams below them in the table. Winning against Wexford 2-0 both home and away and against Athlone Town 4-0 away and 3-1 at home - to go with an away draw against Cobh Ramblers plus home draws with Galway United and First Division winners Drogheda United.

FAI Cup

Rovers' second team do not take part in the FAI Cup.

What they need to improve on for next year:

Rovers hope to continue with a second team in the league next season.

The aim of the team is very much about player development and Rovers second team cannot be promoted into the top flight so realistically they will be looking to be just a bit more competitive next season should they have a team in the division and see more players progress and play for the club’s first team.

    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