Rovers suffer a drubbing

Bohemians 4 Shamrock Rovers 0:THIS WAS a Friday evening of epic misery in Phibsboro for Shamrock Rovers, who suffered a humiliating four-goal defeat against long time foes Bohemians.

Braces from Peter McMahon and Karl Moore ensured Bohemians stunned Rovers as a string of goalkeeping mistakes by Oscar Jansson were ruthlessly punished by Aaron Callaghan’s team.

These are testing times for Rovers, who have now been hammered away from Tallaght by St Patrick’s Athletic, Sligo Rovers, and Bohemians.

All those reversals have been laced with chronic defensive errors which is a huge worry for under pressure manager Stephen Kenny.

Wholehearted and displaying an admirable work ethic, the underdogs snapped into the contest and caught the champions’ out in the 11th minute.

Rovers central defender Graham Gartland had his pocket picked by Dwayne Wilson, who impressed as a lone frontrunner for the home side.

Wilson wriggled clear down the right and his cross fell favourably for Peter McMahon, who confidently drilled the Gypsies ahead. But the action was only starting as within seconds rival supporters clashed on the edge of the pitch.

The match was stopped for three minutes and when play resumed a couple of riot police vans arrived at the ground to deal with the disturbance. On the pitch Rovers were strangely out of sorts for the opening quarter, but they did improve as the interval approached.

Billy Dennehy’s set piece threat came close to bringing the Hoops level twice. In the 39th minute a stinging left-footed Dennehy effort thumped off the woodwork, while on the stroke of half-time the winger drilled narrowly wide.

Bohemians had something to protect after the restart and the Gypsies’ confidence increased significantly in the 52nd minute as goalkeeper Jansson’s mistake was ruthlessly punished.

Jansson’s attempted clearance was gathered by Keith Buckley and the youngster’s right wing cross through a cluster of bodies somehow located McMahon, who tapped into the empty net.

Rovers’ woeful evening took another turn on 57 minutes when substitute Stephen O’Donnell was red-carded for a foul on Keith Ward. Referee Rob Rogers deemed that O’Donnell was the last man when Ward’s penetrating run was halted on the edge of the Hoops’ area.

Bohs bagged a third with five minutes remaining when replacements Dinny Corcoran and Moore combined with the ex-Hoop drilling into the bottom corner.

Jansson was to blame again though in the 87th minute when Moore sealed the deal.

BOHEMIANS: McNulty; Heary (Barker, 70), McMillan, Feely, Byrne; Buckley (Corcoran, 80), Mulcahy, Ward, McEvoy, McMahon (Moore, 66); Wilson.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Jansson; Gilbert (O’Donnell, 46), Oman, Gartland, Powell; McCabe, McCormack (Greene, 79), Finn, Dennehy; O’Neill (Turner, 59), Twigg.

Referee: R Rogers (Dublin).