- Macdara Ferris
- Sat, Jul 19 2014
Shamrock Rovers moved into third place in the SSE Airtricity League with a 3-0 win over Bray Wanderers in the Carlisle Grounds on Friday evening. It was Bray’s fifth league loss on the bounce. While the Seagulls were the better team in the first half, the Hoops scored three goals in 15 second half minutes from Dean Kelly, Jason McGuinness and Shane Robinson to earn all three points and move them above St. Pat’s in the table.
The thunderous rain of earlier in the day may have cleared and the sun had come out to brighten up the Carlisle Grounds but there wasn’t much action to light up the pitch in a poor first half. Bray were the better side belying their recent form as they came into the match having conceding 16 goals in their last four games.
Hoops boss Trevor Croly handed a Premier Division league debut to 16-year-old Evan Osam, the youngest player to debut for Rovers in 36 years since Richie Bayly – the uncle of Robert Bayly. Croly also left some serious attacking options on the bench with Eamon Zayed, Karl Sheppard and top scorer Ciarán Kilduff all on the bench.
That meant Dean Kelly started up front on his own for the Hoops with Gary McCabe behind the striker and McCabe had an excellent game. The former Bray player got a couple of sighters on goal in the opening period including one free kick but Stephen McGuinness in the Bray goal wasn’t really troubled.
Alan Mathews meanwhile handed starts to former Inverness player Joe Gorman and to Michael Barker, recently signed from UCD, and it was Bray’s lone striker Jake Kelly who was the best performer for the home team in the first half.
His free kick on 11 minutes into the Rovers penalty area led to an almighty scramble in the six yard box that required Conor Kenna to clear. It was the first of a number of occasions in the first 45 minutes that the Rovers captain needed to be in the right place at the right time to save his defence.
Kelly’s pass to David Cassidy allowed the former Rovers player to get a shot in on goal but it went just wide of Barry Murphy’s post. Ismahil Akinade, cutting in from the left, also was causing the Rovers defence difficulty. His one-two with Cassidy gave him a sight of goal that required Kenna to put in a last gasp tackle to block. Just before the half hour mark, Kelly’s cross from the right looked set to drop onto Akinade’s head at the back post until Kenna got up to intervene.
It was raucous Rovers in the second half who attacked the Seagulls with the Hoops savenging inside Bray’s six yard box to score three times in a devastating 15 minute period. The opening goal of the game came on 57 minutes and it was the easiest of chances for Dean Kelly who bagged his third league goal of the campaign - all in the last four games. Sean O'Connor's cross was headed against his own post by David Scully under pressure by Jason McGuinness and the ball ran to Kelly to tap home from three yards.
Six minutes later McGuinness doubled Rovers lead with an excellently timed run to get on the end of McCabe's inswinging corner from the left for the defender’s second goal for Rovers on his return to the club for a second spell. O'Connor had won the set piece that Rovers scored from when he was looking for a penalty having gone down in the box. Referee Neil Doyle had awarded eight penalties in his last 12 Rovers game but he didn’t give the Hoops their fifth in 13 matches. It was 3-0 on 71 minutes thanks to Shane Robinson who converted Simon Madden’s cross from a couple of yards out after a penetrating run up the right by the Rovers full back.
The Hoops, who left the field to boos after last week’s 1-0 home defeat to Dundalk, were clapped off by the Rovers supporters who certainly enjoyed their team's second half performance in Bray. The win leaves them in third place in the table ahead of their next league game that is against Drogheda in Tallaght next week while Bray await their first win in nine games.
Bray Wanderers: Stephen McGuinness; Michael Barker, Adam Mitchell, Dean Zambra, Joe Gorman; David Scully, Shane O'Connor, Graham Kelly (Philip Hughes 67), David Cassidy, Ismahil Akinade; Jake Kelly (Gareth McDonagh 81).
Subs not used: Shane Redmond, Ryan Coombes, Gary Curran, Niall Cooney, Shane O'Neill.
Booked: Graham Kelly (49).
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Conor Kenna (c), Jason McGuinness, Evan Osam; Ronan Finn, Shane Robinson, Gary McCabe, Sean O’Connor (Karl Sheppard 81), Kieran Marty Waters (Robert Bayly 79); Dean Kelly (Eamon Zayed 79).
Subs not used: Craig Hyland (gk), David O’Connor, Luke Byrne, Ciaran Kilduff.
Booked: Gary McCabe (49).
Referee: Neil Doyle
Attendance: 1,500 (estimate)
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Gary McCabe (Shamrock Rovers)
