Shelbourne take the spoils in thrilling Shamrock Rovers affair

Right from the off and - as expected in front of a crowd of about 4,700 - the home side started at breakneck speed.

Fri, 23 Feb, 2024 - 22:03

Darryl Geraghty

Shelbourne FC 2 Shamrock Rovers 1

In a thrilling, full-blooded Ringsend Derby, it was Damien Duff’s Reds who emerged victorious over the reigning Champions thanks to two excellent first half goals and, despite missing an early penalty and requiring some last ditch defending at times in the second half, deservedly held on for their first win of the new season.

Right from the off and - as expected in front of a crowd of about 4,700 - the home side started at breakneck speed. And Damien Duff’s troops were given a golden opportunity to go ahead just a few minutes in when Lee Grace was adjudged to have fouled Paddy Barrett in the area from a deep corner. Up stepped Tyreke Wilson who went low, but missed the target from 12-yards, much to the delight of the travelling support.

But with a quarter of an hour played The Reds got their noses in front when new skipper, Mark Coyle, picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area before curling a beautiful strikepast the helpless Leon Pohls.

Shels doubled their lead not long after when Will Jarvis brilliantly collected a long Conor Kearns pass with an incredible first touch to take him in between Josh Honohan and Dan Cleary, and clear on goal before finishing expertly into the far corner.

The visitors, who were dealt a disappointing double injury blow in the first half against Dundalk seven days previous, but welcomed back Johnny Kenny, Richie Towell and Graham Burke to the match day squad and finally got themselves going after being shell-shocked by the hosts.

As the half drew to a close Darragh Burns was desperately unlucky not to see his curling effort find the far top corner before Burke, on as an early substitute for Sean Hoare, almost took advantage of some sloppy play at the back by Shels.

Having nipped in sharply to nick the ball and rounded Kearns, Burke opted to scoop the ball up and over the recovering keeper but Barrett was on hand to recover and head off the line.

With nothing to lose it was the visitors turn to start a half at rip roaring pace, and with a minute played smacked the bar from 25-yards through Dylan Watts. And moments later hauled themselves back into the game when Burke put in a devilishly whipped low cross from the left, allowing Gaffney to finish well from close range.

The Hoops pressure resembled attack versus defence at times as the Red rearguard worked tirelessly to preserve their valuable lead.

In a bid to swing the momentum in their direction the introduction of John Martin and Shane Farrell from the bench injected a bit of life and energy into the Shels counter attack as the minutes ticked on.

And despite some late scares with Aaron Greene and Gaffney going close to equalising, to their credit Shelbourne held out under immense pressure and saw out the game for Damien Duff’s first win as Shels manager over his old employer.

Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Kameron Ledwidge, Paddy Barrett, Gavin Molloy; Sean Gannon, Mark Coyle, JJ Lunney (Jad Hakiki, 90+1’), Tyreke Wilson; John O’Sullivan (Evan Caffrey, 53’), Will Jarvis (John Martin, 66’), Matty Smith (Shane Farrell, 66’)

Subs not used: Lorcan Healy, Keith Ward, Dean Williams, Lewis Temple, Luca Cailloce

Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pohls; Sean Hoare (Graham Burke, 36’), Lee Grace, Dan Cleary (Aaron Greene, 72’); Josh Honohan, Darragh Nugent (Johnny Kenny, 79’), Gary O’Neill, Dylan Watts, Sean Kavanagh (Markus Poom, 45’); Darragh Burns, Rory Gaffney

Subs not used: Lee Steacy, Toms Leitis, Cian Barrett, Richie Towell, Conan Noonan

Referee: Rob Harvey