After plummeting from the highs of Sheffield United’s Premier League promotion to the low of crisis club Bolton Wanderers, Danny Lafferty has found solace in the League of Ireland.

Second half goals from Aaron McEneff and Aaron Greene put a hard working Derry City to the sword at the Brandywell as Rovers consolidated second spot in the Premier Division table.

Shamrock Rovers began their search for a 25th FAI Cup crown with a 1-0 victory over Finn Harps at Tallaght Stadium last night.

Cork City remain without a Premier Division win in their last seven, but there was nevertheless encouragement to be taken from a draw with second-placed Shamrock Rovers at Turner’s Cross on Monday.

Roberto Lopes found redemption at the death on a humid night in Bergen as Shamrock Rovers twice came from behind to shock SK Brann in their Europa League first qualifying round, first leg.

Seán Gannon’s 73rd-minute goal was the difference at Tallaght last night, as Dundalk edged a nail-biting affair against Shamrock Rovers.

Shamrock Rovers kept hot on the heels of Dundalk at the summit of the Premier Division with a deserved victory over relegation-threatened Finn Harps at Finn Park.

It’s the New Firm — but not as we know it.

This was scrappy, tense and far from impressive.

Shamrock Rovers have returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division.

Cork City suffered a fourth league defeat in eight games as Shamrock Rovers proved far superior at Turner’s Cross on Friday night.

Damien Delaney said the lure of Europe and Champions League football helped seal the deal as he made the move from England’s Premier League back to his hometown club Cork City.

Shamrock Rovers 2 Dundalk 5

Bohemians 1 Shamrock Rovers 1

Shamrock Rovers 3 St Patrick’s Athletic 0

Shamrock Rovers 1 Limerick 1: Danny Morrissey scored a late equaliser to stun Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium to maintain the pressure on Hoops manager Stephen Bradley.

SHAMROCK Rovers’ training base at Kingswood was bathed in brilliant sunshine yesterday but manager Stephen Bradley and his players badly need a pick-me-up result against Limerick in Tallaght tonight (8pm) to dispel the dark clouds which currently assail the club.

The pressure was ratcheted up on Stephen Bradley’s tenure as Shamrock Rovers head-coach when they became the first side to lose to basement side Bray this season.

Dundalk’s defence was finally breached but a goal from the most unlikely of sources ensured they went top of the table following victory over Shamrock Rovers at Oriel Park last night.

Waterford FC 2 Shamrock Rovers 1... Courtney Duffus netted a brace in front of an attendance of 3, 010 as Waterford FC won against ten-man Shamrock Rovers in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division as the Blues picked up a massive win to move into second spot in the table.

Limerick FC 0 Shamrock Rovers 1

Shamrock Rovers 6 Bray Wanderers 0: Goals on their full debuts for new signings Dan Carr and Sean Kavanagh, and a brace from Brandon Miele, helped get Shamrock Rovers’ season up and running with a first win of the campaign.

The @SSEAirtricityLg account didn’t even run a list of full-time scores during Cork City’s game against St Patrick’s Athletic on Saturday, writes Brendan O’Brien

Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers will have to meet again to determine who joins Cork City in this year’s FAI Cup final following a fiesty semi-final clash at Oriel Park yesterday evening.

Last night the League of Ireland’s top two produced the latest episode of their ongoing anthology and there’ll be plenty more chapters to run.

Shamrock Rovers 3 Cork City 1: Cork City still have plenty of time to wrap up this Premier Division title — six games, to be exact — but what looked for so long like a procession has come to resemble more of a tired stumble for the finishing line.

Champions-elect Cork City were beaten away from home for the first time all season and they shipped three goals for the first time too as Shamrock Rovers repeated their EA Sports Cup, semi-final victory over the same opposition at Tallaght Stadium tonight.

Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley has played down his simmering feud with John Caulfield, saying he respects Cork City and that the club will be deserving league champions.

Three second-half goals for Shamrock Rovers were enough for the Hoops to get by Shelbourne at Tolka Park in the FAI Cup.

There were two games in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division tonight.

Shamrock Rovers 1 Cork City 0 (AET): At the end of a long night in Tallaght, Shamrock Rovers finally got the better of a gutsy Cork City to qualify for the EA Sports Cup final against Dundalk on September 16.

FK Mlada Boleslav 2 - 0 Shamrock Rovers (Boleslav win 5-2 on agg.) Already facing a mammoth task following the first leg, Shamrock Rovers duly bowed out of the Europa League in the Czech Republic last night.

Shamrock Rovers 2 Mladá Boleslav 3

Shamrock Rovers 1 Stjarnan 0 (Shamrock Rovers win 2-0 on aggregate): A winning goal on the night from Graham Burke and several telling saves from goalkeeper Tomer Chencinski at the other end ensured Shamrock Rovers’ safe Europa League passage.

Struggling Sligo Rovers picked up a massive result in front of their home fans when beating high-flying Shamrock Rovers 1-0 in a fiery contest – a win that takes the Bit O’Red out of the relegation places and up to eighth place in the top flight standings.

STJARNAN 0 - 2 SHAMROCK ROVERS: Gary Shaw’s first-half goal brought Shamrock Rovers victory at the Stjörnuvöllur in Reykjavik last night to mark a milestone 100th win in European club competition by a League of Ireland side.

Cork City midfielder Conor McCormack admits he still has a soft spot for Shamrock Rovers but there will be no mood for sentiment from the league leaders at Turner’s Cross tonight.

Derry City 3 Shamrock Rovers 1: A brace of stunning strikes from Derry City’s Aaron McEneff put this game out of the reach of Shamrock Rovers at Maginn Park.

Shamrock Rovers 2 - Dundalk 1: “Cheerio four-in-a-row,” sang the Shamrock Rovers supporters as the Hoops inflicted a fifth league defeat on Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium last night.

Shamrock Rovers 1 Limerick FC 1: Limerick’s Rodrigo Tosi struck in the last minute of normal time to snatch a draw at Tallaght Stadium.

Shamrock Rovers - 2

As the League of Ireland season kicks off tonight, all eyes will be on Dundalk’s four-in-a-row title quest even if the manager with history in his grasp won’t countenance personal accolades.

Kevin O’Connor believes Cork City’s home form will be the X factor which can bring the league title to Leeside.