- Dave Donnelly
- Tue, May 30 2017
Brandon Miele and Gary Shaw scored in the first half as Shamrock Rovers eased to the most comfortable of victories over a tame Bray Wanderers at Tallaght Stadium on Monday night.
Rovers haven't lost in their last 21 games when Brandon Miele has scored and the integrity of that streak never once looked into doubt after the Tallaght man put them 1-0 up within five minutes.
Not a lot seemed to be on when Ronan Finn lofted a hopeful ball forward, which rebounded off Gary Shaw and into the path of former Hoops captain Conor Kenna, now leading the Seagulls.
The skipper seemed unsure whether to hoof the ball clear or control it. In the end, he did neither, and the ball skidded off his foot to Miele, who tucked it past Peter Cherrie from close range.
It was the beginning of a breathless first 15 minutes as both sides attacked with pace from wide areas, Bray through Dylan Connolly and Aaron Greene, Rovers with Trevor Clarke and Miele.
Clarke saw his pull-back for Shaw cleared by Clancy, and Gary McCabe scuffed a shot at Chencinski from the edge of the box, before Graham Burke pulled a shot wide from inside the box.
Harry Kenny opted to leave full-backs Hugh Douglas and Kevin Lynch on the bench, instead deploying winger Karl Moore and midfielder John Sullivan after Keith Buckley had pulled up in the warm-up.
Moore's inexperience at left-back was exploited continually by Miele and the overlapping Simon Madden, and it was the latter's drilled cross that Burke glanced wide on 12 minutes.
The former Rovers and Bohemians wideman was again the victim for the second goal as Shaw left him for dead to latch on to Ronan Finn's through-ball and squeeze a shot under the advancing Cherrie.
Kenna did his best to make amends for his earlier error with a spirited effort to get back and hook the ball off the line but he succeeded only in following it into the nether reaches of the net.
Bray fashioned their first chance midway through the half as a neat one-two between Ryan Brennan and Mark Salmon sent Brennan free down the right, but his clipped cross across the face of goal evaded Ger Pender.
Normal service was resumed as Miele and Madden exchanged passes on the right and Madden surged into the box and lifted the ball up for Burke, whose again failed to get the purchase on his header.
Bray appeared listless throughout, with Connolly their only outball and the pressing of Ger Pender in the final third rarely supported by those behind and to his sides.
The one area where Rovers did appear genuinely troubled was from set-piece situations, where recently recruit from Tallaght Gary McCabe was causing all sorts of problems with his delivery.
An inswinging corner just after the half-hour was headed off the line by Dave Webster, and a free kick from a similar position prompted an outstanding intervention from Finn under pressure from Kenna.
Bray rallied briefly early the second half but the mooted fightback never materialised as order was quickly restored and the Hoops looked more likely to extend to their lead than see it diluted.
Clarke and Burke were wasteful with chances inside the box, while substitute Derek Foran pulled off a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Miele a third after Luke Byrne had played in Clarke.
Indeed, had Rovers been more clinical with the chances they did create, or had the officials not made a couple of questionable calls, they could easily have made the scoreline an embarrassing one for the Seagulls.
Michael O'Connor very nearly did add number three 11 minutes from time as Rovers countered, the former Dundalk man skinning Salmon and wrong-footing Cherrie only to see his shot bounce back off the foot of the post.
Shamrock Rovers: Tomer Chencinski; Simon Madden, David Webster, Roberto Lopes, Luke Byrne; Ryan Connolly, Ronan Finn, Brandon Miele, Trevor Clarke; Graham Burke (Sam Bone 87), Gary Shaw (Michael O'Connor 63).
Subs not used: Kevin Horgan (gk), Danny Devine, Sean Heaney, Sam Bone, James Doona, Sean Boyd.
Booked: Ronan Finn (31), Michael O'Connor (78).
Bray Wanderers: Peter Cherrie; John Sullivan (Derek Foran 63), Conor Kenna, Tim Clancy, Karl Moore; Mark Salmon (Darragh Noone 84), Ryan Brennan, Gary McCabe, Dylan Connolly, Aaron Greene; Ger Pender (Jason Marks 72).
Subs not used: Lee Stacey (gk), Hugh Douglas, Kevin Lynch, Anto Flood.
Booked: Dylan Connolly (11), Gary McCabe (40).
Referee: Ray Matthews.
Attendance: 1,758 (official).
Extratime.ie Player of the Match: Trevor Clarke (Shamrock Rovers).
