- Sam McKeever
- Wed, May 23 2018
From Sam McKeever at Tallaght Stadium
Shamrock Rovers gained a vital three points at Tallaght Stadium as they dispatched Saint Patrick’s Athletic 3-0 on Tuesday night with goals from Lee Grace, Ronan Finn and Sam Bone.
In a dreary opening ten minutes it was Rovers who had most of the early possession but were not able to make the most of it. A long range Graham Burke effort which was easily saved by Tyson Farago was the pick of the opening moments.
It took a set piece to break the deadlock on 17 minutes. An indecisive moment from Farago gave a corner to Rovers who made the most of it.
Graham Burke, who was playing his third game in four days after lining out for Ireland in Glaasgow on Sunday, swung in the corner. He found the head of Lee Grace and the defender headed into the bottom corner.
The game had some life about it after the opening goal and Pat’s had a fantastic chance to level just before the half hour mark.
Thomas Byrne picked up the ball on the edge of the area and laid it into space for Ian Bermingham to latch onto but his left foot effort failed to find the target.
The Hoops were impressive throughout the first half and doubled their lead just before the break with a sweeping move. A good pass by Sean Kavanagh into the path of substitue Joel Coustrain gave the Ringsend player the opportunity to break down the left hand side.
Kavanagh spotted the run of his captain Ronan Finn who finished it off fantastically lifting it over Farago from six yards out.
Within a minute of the second half Pat’s had a fantastic chance to level the scores. A dangerous free kick from the left by Conan Byrne to the back post almost found Kevin Toner at the back post.
He was inches away of getting a head on it. Toner then appealed that he was held back by a Rovers defender but referee Rob Rodgers waved away appeals by the Pat’s players.
A few minutes later the game was effectively over as Burke’s free kick was put into the middle of the box.
The Saint’s dealt with the ball into the box poorly only managing to clear it to the edge of the box before Sam Bone smashed it home from close range to put the Hoops three ahead.
Burke then decided to try and get on the act cutting on to his left foot from the right hand side. His curling effort had Farogo back peddling before he caught the ball indecisively.
Liam Buckley’s men pressed on to try and find a consolation goal and almost had one six minutes from time. Ian Bermingham crossed the ball from the left hand side and it found Byrne on the back post who volleyed it before Roberto Lopes came to the rescue to clear it off the line.
A fantastic performance by Stephen Bradley’s side gives them a vital three points and their second win in just 10 games as Pat’s four match unbeaten run ends at the hands of Bradley’s side.
Shamrock Rovers:Tomer Chencinski; Ethan Boyle, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Sean Kavanagh; Greg Bolger, Sam Bone (David McAllister 58); Ronan Finn, Graham Burke (Luke Byrne 64), Brandon Miele (Joel Coustrain 25); Dan Carr.
Bookings: None.
Subs not used: Gavin Bazunu, Joey O’Brien, Aaron Bolger, Dean Dillon
St.Patrick’s Athletic: Tyson Farago; Ian Bermingham, Kevin Toner, Lee Desmond, Conan Byrne, Ryan Brennan (Graham Kelly 62); Daragh Markey (Christy Fagan 55), Simon Madden, Thomas Byrne; Jamie Lennon, Jake Keegan (James Doona 45).
Bookings:Simon Madden (79), Graham Kelly (89)
Subs not used:Brian Maher, Michael Barker, Ian Turner, Michael Leahy
Referee: Rob Rodgers
Attendance: 3,016 (official)
Extratime.ie man of the match: Lee Grace (Shamrock Rovers)
