- Dave Donnelly
- Sun, Jul 26 2015
Shamrock Rovers overcame the disappointment of their Europa League exit on Thursday to demolish a resilient Limerick side 4-1 at Tallaght Stadium.
Brandon Miele – who must enjoy playing Limerick, having scored a late equaliser in the sides encounter earlier this season at Jackman Park – scored his seventh and eighth of the season, while Conor Kenna and Pat Cregg each opened their Rovers accounts either side of an Ian Turner reply.
While the final tally was handsome in itself, Rovers could, and probably should, have scored twice as many had striker Danny North – in for the suspended Mikey Drennan – been at his clinical best, as the Englishman missed no fewer than five clear one-on-ones in the second half.
With the short three-day turnaround from Thursday's defeat in Norway, Pat Fenlon rested three of his stars – Craig Hyland and the Brennan brothers. In came Barry Murphy for a first league start of the season, Cian Kavanagh for a first ever league start, as well as returns for striker North and winger Marty Waters.
Limerick boss Martin Russell opted to make three changes of his own. Aidan Price, Jason Hughes and Ross Mann made way for Paudie O'Connor, Prince Agyemang and Lee-J Lynch, though shallow squad depth meant he retained midfielders Shane Tracey and Paul O'Conor in the full back positions.
As the afternoon's rain cleared up to a balmy drizzle at Tallaght Stadium, the sense this was a damage limitation effort for the visitors was clear early on as Rovers were dominant from the very first whistle, though set-pieces appeared the most likely route to goal for both sides in the opening period.
Hoops captain Kenna had one Gary McCabe corner plucked from his head by Limerick keeper Freddie Hall, before ballooning another over the bar, and his opposite number Robbie Williams crashed an excellent Shane Tracey delivery off the Rovers bar.
Brandon Miele was enjoying the freedom of the right flank as Sean Russell was offering little protection to auxiliary full back Tracey, but his final ball let him down twice in goal-scoring positions.
Fenlon opted to switch his flank with Marty Waters to exploit Tracey's weakness, and the unintended benefit was immediate as barely a minute passed before Miele wandered in off the left and struck from all of 30 yards in the top corner past a helpless Hall.
Eight minutes after the break it was 2-0, as Waters delivered a free kick from wide on the left onto the head of an unmarked Kenna, who made no mistake from 10 yards. Miele and McCabe both went close, before North fluffed two golden opportunities in the space of 60 seconds.
Rovers were made pay for their poor finishing as, against the run of play, Limerick cut the deficit in half. Murphy was unable to hold a rasping shot from Shane Tracey, and Ian Turner was well-placed to poke the rebound into an empty net.
It took Rovers little more than two minutes to restore their two-goal lead as Miele robbed Lynch and played in North, who again found his path blocked by Hall, but Cregg was on hand to calmly turn past Robbie Williams and slot the ball home.
Cian Kavanagh lasted 72 minutes on his first league start, and he showed flashes of what he's capable of, and an immaculate slide-rule pass should have allowed North to finally break his duck, but he lacked the pace to take the ball around the sweeping Hall and get the goal his general play deserved.
Eventually Rovers did manage to score a fourth as Gareth McCaffrey – only just on in place of North – met Gary McCabe's pass with a first-time backheel into the path of Miele, who calmly rounded the beleaguered Hall.
Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, David Webster, Luke Byrne; Pat Cregg, Gary McCabe, Cian Kavanagh; Brandon Miele, Marty Waters (Dylan Kavanagh 84), Danny North (Gareth McCaffrey 80).
Subs not used: Craig Hyland (gk), Maxime Blanchard, David O'Connor, Gavin Brennan.
Booked: Cregg (90).
Limerick: Freddy Hall; Paul O'Conor, Paudie O'Connor, Robbie Williams, Shane Tracey; Prince Agyemang (Darragh Rainsford 63), Shane Duggan, Lee Lynch, Ian Turner (Vinny Faherty 63), Sean Russell; Dean Clarke.
Subs not used: Tommy Holland (gk), Aidan Price, Sean Harding, Sean McSweeney, Ross Mann.7
Booked: None.
Referee: Anthony Buttimer.
Attendance: 1,500 (estimate)
Extratime.ie Player of the Match: Danny North (Shamrock Rovers).
