- Dave Donnelly
- Sat, Jun 06 2015
Second-half doubles for Mikey Drennan and the imperious Brandon Miele sealed a comfortable 5-1 victory for Shamrock Rovers over Sligo Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.
The hosts went in at the break a tad fortunate to be two goals to good after Miele and Marty Waters pounced on mistakes in the Sligo defence but, despite a brief scare courtesy of Dinny Corcoran's goal, the Hoops eased to victory on a chilly night in Dublin 24.
Pat Fenlon made three changes to the side that was overpowered by St Patrick's Athletic in the FAI Cu: Pat Cregg missed out through suspension and Keith Fahey was omitted entirely, leading to returns for Gary McCabe, Marty Waters and Stephen McPhail.
Fenlon's former on-field lieutenant Owen Heary had a somewhat happier cup experience, his Sligo side beating Crumlin United by two goals to nil on Saturday, but he made two changes nevertheless: Alan Keane and John Russell returned from injury in place of Gary Boylan and Raf Cretaro.
The game began at a brisk pace as both sides attacked with intent. Waters forced Brush into an early save after he danced his way into the Sligo area, before Simon Madden was nearly left red-faced having ceded possession to Dinny Corcoran inside his 18-yard box.
The home side began to assert more control as the opening period wore on, but their build-up play was too slow and deliberate to really trouble the visitors, with a long diagonal cross from Madden that sailed over Drennan the best they could muster.
Sligo, by contrast, were making the best of their limited possession, with Estonian international Sander Puri particularly lively down the right. It was his run and cross that forced an excellent interception from Hoops captain Conor Kenna, and he had a claim for a penalty turned down moments later when he fell under Waters' pressure.
So it was against the run of play when, with their first spell of quality pressure, Rovers took the lead when Stephen Folan failed to deal with Madden's cross and could only watch as Miele proved more effective than Brush, sweeping his volley clean past the Englishman in the Sligo goal.
It was 2-0 shortly before the break as Gary McCabe – lively throughout as he faced his old side – played a hopeful ball over the top which had former Hoops left-back Danny Ledwith in all sorts of bother, and Waters nipped in behind him to lift the ball gently over Brush and into an empty net.
There followed a lengthy delay before the break as Ryan Brennan was stretchered off in some deal f discomfort, and he was replaced by Sean O'Connor, which necessitated a move to central midfield for McCabe.
Sligo pulled a goal back against the run of play just past the hour mark as a long clearance from Brush led to a mix-up between Rovers keeper Craig Hyland and defender Max Blanchard. Corcoran stole in to stab the ball home, though it may have been the French defender who got the final touch.
It took the Hoops all of seven minutes to restore the two-goal cushion. A wonderfully weighted pass from man-of-the-match Miele found Drennan peeling away from Gavin Peers, and he had all the time in the world to pick his spot in the left-hand corner of Brush's net.
Things went from bad to worse for Sligo within 60 seconds of the kick-off as the hapless Ledwith chopped down Waters in the box and Drennan netted his second – his third league double of the season – to seal the points for Fenlon's side.
Corcoran should have doubled his own tally after his twisted his way past Blanchard, but he took one touch too many and allowed Hyland to smother, before Puri forced another good stop from the Hoops keeper.
Late injuries to Sean O'Connor – who left the field in great discomfort after collapsing while chasing a through-ball – and Max Blanchard meant eight minutes of stoppage time were played.
That was ample time for Miele to smash in his second off the post and, cruelly, for Owen Heary to ponder the home fans' gleeful chants of 'you're getting sacked in the morning.'
Shamrock Rovers: Craig Hyland; Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, Maxime Blanchard (Davood Webster 87), Luke Byrne; Stephen McPhail, Ryan Brennan (Sean O'Connor 45+1 (Gavin Brennan 82)), Gary McCabe, Gary McCabe, Brandon Miele; Michael Drennan.
Subs not used: Barry Murphy (gk), Tim Clancy, David O'Connor, Gavin Brennan, Gareth McCaffrey.
Booked: Max Blanchard (22)
Sligo Rovers: Richard Brush; Alan Keane, Danny Ledwith, Gavin Peers, Stephen Folan; David Cawley, Eoin Wearen, John Russell (Gary Armstrong 73), Sander Puri, Stephen Beattie; Dinny Corcoran.
Subs not used: Ryan Coulter (gk), Gary Boylan, Keith Ward, Raffaele Cretaro, Ryan McManus, Kevin Devaney.
Referee: Padraigh Sutton.
Official attendance: 3,250 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Brandon Miele (Shamrock Rovers)
