Shamrock Rovers 4 - 0 Galway United

Shamrock Rovers cruised to another comprehensive victory as they overcame Galway United 4-0 as top met bottom in Tallaght Stadium on Friday night.

Billy Dennehy ran riot down the left hand side for Rovers as Galway failed to come to grips with the pacey winger. However, the final ball didn’t appear to be there as neither side managed to set a shot off in the opening ten minutes despite Rovers dominating the possession.

Galway looked to break on the counter attack but Mickey Gilmore was left isolated up front against the Rovers back four. In fact it was United who got the first shot on goal when Eduardo Dusi got a shot off from the edge of the box, although Alan Mannus easily extinguished the threat.

But just two minutes later Rovers took the lead when Gary Twigg’s ball split the Galway defence and put Stephen Rice in on goal. Rice made no mistake and slotted past Greg Fleming to give his side a 1-0 lead after fourteen minutes.

And three minutes later Gary O’Neill nearly made it two when Stephen Rice picked out Ken Oman out at the back post. Oman’s header found O’Neill but his shot was saved by well Fleming. Billy Dennehy then had the ball in the back of the net on 20 minutes but his effort was ruled out as he had come from an offside position.

Gilmore then did very well to get a shot away after he put Dan Murray under pressure and gained possession. But his shot was high and wide leaving Mannus with nothing to worry about.

Sean Connors’ men had rallied after Rovers goal and looked to be more of a threat than the opening twenty minutes of the game. But on the half hour Rovers had yet another chance when Twigg was picked out by Dennehy, only a brave block from Shaun Kelly preventing the shot troubling Fleming.

O’Neill looked to have had the final say of the half when he controlled Mannus’ long ball beautifully and looked to lob Fleming but his effort when just inches over the bar.

Despite Rovers efforts the game remained 1-0 to the hosts at the break. Galway would have been feeling positive as they troubled the Hoops back four at times. But it took just two minutes of the second half for Rovers to double their lead. Dennehy burst down the left wing and picked out Gary McCabe at the edge of the penalty area. McCabe’s shot rocketed into the back of the net leaving Fleming helpless.

With 54 minutes gone Rovers looked certain to add a third when Twigg, Dennehy and McCabe all had efforts from inside the six yard box but couldn’t get the ball in the back of the net.

On 63 minutes Michael O’Neill introduced Ronan Finn and he made an almost immediate impact when, three minutes after entering the fray, he picked out Dennehy from the half way line. Dennehy then selflessly found Twigg who caressed the ball into the empty net to make it 3-0.

McCabe then picked out O’Neill with an inch perfect cross but only a top class save from Fleming prevented Rovers from extending their lead.

Despite holding a 3-0 lead Rovers continued to push forward in the final ten minutes but near heroic goalkeeping from Fleming kept them out. But ‘Man of the Match’ Billy Dennehy rounded off the scoring on 90 minutes when he smashed his shot into the United net to give his side a 4-0 victory.

Rovers now face a tougher task against Ian Foster’s Dundalk, who they meet at Tallaght Stadium next Tuesday. Foster was present at the game and will be looking at ways of stopping the Rovers attack.

Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Pat Sullivan, Dan Murray, Ken Oman, Conor McCormack; Gary McCabe, Stephen O’Donnell (Ronan Finn, 63), Stephen Rice (Chris Turner, 77), Billy Dennehy; Gary Twigg (Ciaran Kilduff, 72), Gary O’Neill.
Subs Not Used: Enda Stevens, Craig Sives, Karl Sheppard, Ryan Thompson.
Bookings: Dennehy (66).

Galway United: Greg Fleming; Shaun Kelly, Paul Sinnott, Evan Preston Kelly, Gary Kelly; Eduardo Dusi (Darragh Duggan, 51), Bobby Ryan, Rory Gartlan (Ronan Cauldwell, 20), Gary Curran, Karl Moore; Mickey Gilmore.
Subs Not Used: Shaun Maher, Conor Winn.
Bookings: Caldwell (52).

Referee: Padraig Sutton.
Attendance: 2,459.
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Billy Dennehy caused the Galway United back four all sorts of problems and was involved in all of the goals.