- Macdara Ferris
- Sun, Sep 11 2022
Macdara Ferris reports from Tallaght Stadium
Shamrock Rovers moved four points clear of Derry City at the top of the table (with a game in hand) after a straightforward 5-1 win over Finn Harps at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday evening.
The Hoops blitzed by Harps in the opening half going off at the break with a 4-0 lead even if it was the visitors who had the first chance of the game; Alan Mannus saving a driven Filip Mihaljevic shot inside three minutes.
It took just eight minutes for Rovers to get the opener and it came from a player who hadn’t scored in exactly two years. Neil Farrugia was on hand to beat Gary Boylan to ball and blast it home with his right after goalkeeper James McKeown had saved an Andy Lyons shot that came off a beautiful Jack Byrne backheel.
Elie-Gael N’Zeyi Kibonge had done well to block a Sean Kavanagh effort mid-way through the first half. At the other end Lee Grace’s defensive clearance flashed by Mannus but just wide of the goal.
Harps did press the Hoops with a number of corners but the Rovers defence stood firm and soon doubled their lead.
A Lyons flick had forced McKeown into a save and then the Hoops were handed the chance to make it 2-0 after what looked like a harsh decision on Harps from referee Derek Tomney on 36 minutes. Ryan Rainey was deemed to have fouled Aaron Greene when the two competed for a header in the box.
The Harps defender got booked for his protest and Rory Gaffney made no mistake with his spotkick to score his eighth league goal of the campaign.
The Hoops then got two more goals in two minutes just before the break. Farrugia went on a run down the right. Gaffney took the ball on and fed Lyons. The player due to head to Blackpool at the end of the season wrapped his right foot around to score his ninth in all competitions.
Having waited so long to score his second goal for Rovers, Farrugia had his third goal for the club two minutes from the break. Byrne spotted the wing-back’s run and Farrugia drilled the low pass he received with his left by McKeown.
With the four goal half time lead, Stephen Bradley was able to make a couple of substitutions at the break with Aidomo Emakhu coming on along with Ukrainian Viktor Serdeniuk who was making his debut for the Hoops.
The visitors grabbed a goal just before the hour mark. Eric McWoods drove at the Rovers defence who back tracked. Substitute Jaime Siah took McWoods’ pass and then drilled a shot by Mannus for his first for the club.
Five minutes later though the Hoops had restored their four goal lead with Byrne scoring his first goal for the Hoops since February. The move had started with Serdeniuk slipping the ball wide to Gaffney.
His cross was sent goalwards by Emakhu and when McKeown pushed the ball back out Byrne was on hand to rifle home from close range.
Rovers made three final substitutions at that point no doubt with next Thursday’s game in Gent in the Europa Conference League in mind – a match that comes ahead of their FAI Cup quarter-final away to Derry City next Sunday.
Bradley brought on Graham Burke and both 17-year-old Gideon Tetteh and Simon Power for their league debuts.
The scoreline won’t have made Ollie Horgan happy as Harps remain bottom of the table a point behind UCD with both sides having seven league games remaining.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Sean Gannon, Daniel Cleary, Lee Grace; Neil Farrugia (Simon Power 65), Sean Kavanagh, Gary O'Neill (Gideon Tetteh 65), Andy Lyons (Victor Serdeniuk 46); Aaron Greene (Aidomo Emakhu 46), Rory Gaffney(Graham Burke 65), Jack Byrne.
Subs not used: Leon Pohls, Justin Ferizaj, Ronan Finn, Chris McCann.
Booked: Gary O'Neill (26).
Finn Harps: James McKeown; Ryan Rainey, Ethan Boyle, Rob Slevin (Jose Carrillo 86), Gary Boylan (Harry Nicolson 72); Filip Mihaljevic, Ryan Connolly, Elie N'Zeyi Kibonge, Dylan Duncan (Jaime Siah 46), Barry McNamee (c) (Robert Jones 65); Eric McWoods (Adam McCaffrey 86).
Subs not used: Gavin Mulreany, Mark Timlin, Luke Rudden, Shaun O'Donnell.
Booked: Dylan Duncan (6) ,Eric McWoods (17) ,Ryan Rainey (35) Robert Jones (72).
Referee: Derek Tomney
Attendance: 2,859
extratime.com Player of the Match: Neil Farrugia (Shamrock Rovers)
