Rovers run riot as Drogs collapse

Shamrock Rovers 7 Drogheda United 1

And they heaped further misery on the hapless Boynesiders in the second half, eventually crushing them by 7-1 to lift the Setanta Sports Cup 2013 and give Trevor Croly his first piece of silverware as Rovers boss.

But if the winning manager seemed almost subdued afterwards, it was mainly out of fellow-feeling for his Drogheda counterpart Mick Cooke, with whom he had a long conversation at the final whistle.

“We played well, thank God, and Mick said it to me as well,” said Croly. “It’s hard to get to the final and it didn’t happen for them in the game so commiserations obviously to them, but we were delighted. I was on the Pro License coaching course with Mick — he’s a good guy, he’s certainly entertaining, a fun guy and it was a hard moment for him. But he’s done a great job and they’ll bounce back.”

Cooke, though visibly shell-shocked by Drogheda’s collapse, was offering no excuses.

“What can you say? Every mistake we made was clinically punished. We could just not get to grips with it. To concede a third goal just before half time knocked the stuffing out of us and too many heads dropped.”

Trevor Croly, insisting that his players would not be allowed a boozy celebration after the club’s second Setanta Cup triumph, was also immediately lifting his gaze to tomorrow night’s resumption of league action, in the form of a testing Dublin derby away to St Pats.

“We can kick on, definitely,” he said. “But unless we recover properly and unless we prepare for Tuesday, well, then we’ll be disappointed. This moment of happiness will be gone and we’ll be in the doldrums so we have to make sure we do everything right for Tuesday and then for the next game against Bohemians.

“But it’s brilliant, the guys are all-Ireland champions, they got what I feel they deserve. I felt they were the best team in the competition, they played really well and I’m delighted for them.”

Saturday’s man of the match, Ronan Finn – whose two goals were probably the pick of the Rovers bunch – insists that the team can carry the momentum of cup victory back into the league and, although currently a whopping 14 points behind leaders Sligo, mount a serious challenge for the title this season.

“With everybody coming back to fitness, the squad is so strong,” he said. “And definitely we’re looking to get that league back. It wasn’t a great feeling last year giving it up and it’s definitely something that we want to win this year.

” It’s the main thing that we play for and there’s no way we’re defeatist, we’re 100% going for that league.”