- Sam McKeever
- Sat, Feb 10 2018
By Sam McKeever in Tallaght Stadium
A late Jarvis Edobor header gave a Brentford XI a 2-1 win over Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Bees came from behind after Graham Burke gave the Hoops a half time lead. Theo Archibald grabbed a goal ten minutes from time before Edobor won the game for the visitors with three minutes to go.
The Hoops line up mainly consisted of first team players with the likes of Gary Shaw, Ronan Finn and Graham Burke featuring for Stephen Bradley’s side. As for Brentford they went for a similar line up from the game they lost 2-1 in Dundalk on Wednesday night making four changes.
Rovers had the first real chance of the game inside ten minutes as captain Ronan Finn did well to pick out Joel Coustrain but he couldn’t deliver the finish as he put it past the post.
Brentford moments later had a chance with Theo Archibald. He got one on one with Lee Grace before trying to curl it into the bottom corner with his left foot but goalkeeper Kevin Horgan had it covered.
Gary Shaw then was next to have a pop at goal as Burke’s shot was deflected into his path by David Titov. Shaw met it sweetly on the volley and goalkeeper Ellery Balcombe got across well to push it past the post.
Balcombe was called into action once again as Burke’s free kick was decently struck forcing the Brentford ‘keeper to push the ball away from goal.
Five minutes before the interval Rovers took the lead. Finn forced a mistake out of the Brentford midfield before giving it to Burke who made no mistake striking the ball cleanly with his left foot giving Balcombe no chance as it hit the back of the net.
Changes were made of plenty at half time as Rovers switched all but trailist and former Leeds United player Eoghan Stokes. Bradley gave game time for Brandon Miele, Aaron Bolger and Tomer Chencinski - getting valuable minutes under their belts in the second half.
The opening 20 minutes of the second half had nothing really to write home about with a lack of quality in the final third by both sides. A free kick from Reese Cole at the start of the half was the closest we saw to a goal.
Rovers had the first decent attack of the second half as good build up found Miele on the left hand side he cut inside onto his right foot. The effort was wayword though as he got under the ball too much putting it over the crossbar.
The Championship side hit back with a effort of their own soon after as Ali Coote had a shot from distance on his left foot not troubling Chencinski as he watched it sail over the crossbar.
They had a great chance to equalise soon after as the ball broke to Bradley Clayton just outside the six yard box but he snatched at the chance and hit it straight at Chencinski who parried it away.
Moments later they drew level with good play by Archibald down the right hand side gave him the opportunity to cut inside and he hit a fantastic effort with his left foot into the bottom corner giving Chencinski an impossible task of keeping it out.
The Bees had a good chance to win it five minutes from the end. A excellent take down from a cross by Bradley Clayton allowed him set up Joe Hardy in the centre, who did well to get a shot off under pressure, he had Chencinski scrambling as the ball trickled past the post.
Soon after that Brentford did get the winner as a corner from Jaakko Oksanen was met by the head of Jarvis Edobar who jumped up brilliantly to power the header home into the top corner three minutes from time.
Shamrock Rovers: Kevin Horgan (Tomer Chencinski h/t); Ethan Boyle( Sam Bone h/t), Roberto Lopez (Dan Clery h/t), Lee Grace (Eric Abulu h/t), Greg Bolger (David McAllister h/t); Ronan Finn (Aaron Bolger h/t), Ally Gilchrist (Conor Glesson h/t), Eoghan Stokes (Sean Boyd 60), Joel Coustrain (Brandon Miele h/t); Gary Shaw (Dean Dillion h/t), Graham Burke (Dan Carr h/t).
Subs not used: None.
Bookings: None
Brentford XI: Ellery Balcombe; Lukas Talbaro, David Titov (Nikolaj Kirk 73), Jarvis Edobor, Zain Westbrooke; Herson Rodriguz Alves, Reese Cole (Jaakko Oksanen 65), Marcus Fross, Marcus Forss (Joe Hardy 71); Bradley Clayton, Theo Archibald, Mads Bech Sorensen.
Subs not used: Dan Houghton, Luke Appleton, Ali Coote.
Bookings: None
Referee: Tomás Connolly.
Attendance: 750 (estimate).
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Graham Burke (Shamrock Rovers).
See pictures from the game by Albert Thompson here.
