Bohemians...3 Shamrock Rovers...2: They've been on a bit of a rollercoaster ride over the past couple of seasons at Dalymount where the club's great double was quickly followed by doubts about an expensively assembled side's ability to deliver when it counted.

Through it all, though, Glen Crowe's performances have remained one of the team's great constants, a factor that influenced Stephen Kenny heavily when he started his reshaping of the squad before the summer. He figured out how much it would cost to keep the 25-year-old striker and then figured out the rest.

Crowe continued to repay his new manager's faith last night with two more goals in a well-earned win over Bohemians' old rivals, bringing his tally to seven in five games, a feat that has helped the Gypsies to the third round of the FAI Cup and a 100 per cent record after four league outings.

His goals were far from the only thing that separated the sides. The notion that Rovers would still be even vaguely in the game at the break seemed an unlikely prospect at the end of an opening half hour in which the visitors were completely overrun by a lively Bohemians side.

In every area of the pitch the locals were quicker and more determined both on and off the ball and Kenny's side were helped by the regularity with which Rovers handed them possession.

Going forward Mark Rutherford seemed to be able to make progress almost unhindered down the left wing while inside him Crowe and Paul Keegan were only slightly more hindered by the attentions of Pat Scully and Stephen McGuinness.

Robbie Horgan, who managed to start a lot of Bohemians' attacks by sending his long clearances straight to one of his opponents, nevertheless did well to get a touch to a low Crowe shot in the seventh minute. However, he could do nothing 13 minutes later when Keegan, benefiting from the Rovers defence's hapless attempts to clear the ball, got a slight touch to a ball from the left that continued on to beat the goalkeeper low to his left.

When Crowe made it two shortly afterwards with a close-range header that Keegan had helped to set up by dispossessing McGuinness a rout looked possible. After almost immediately surviving another fright when Keegan skimmed the outside of the right post with Horgan again beaten, Liam Buckley's side finally started to haul themselves into the game.

Their revival was sparked to an extent by a stroke of good fortune with Noel Hunt getting the chance to shoot from close range after a wild mis-kick by Bobby Ryan had left the Bohemians defence scrambling to protect their goal.

Rovers started the second period promisingly, improved by the arrival of Pat Deans at full back and Graham O'Keeffe's introduction out wide, then up front thanks to the greater physical threat posed by the arrival of Seán Francis. At the back, however, they continued to have problems as they edged forward in search of an equaliser and they began to look increasingly vulnerable to Crowe's pace on the break.

The striker's second goal was the game's best, Keegan flicking on a clearance into his team-mate's path after which Crowe found the bottom right corner with a brilliant left-foot strike.

Again the visitors regrouped and an injury-time goal from Francis, who poked home from a yard after O'Keeffe had slipped the ball past Ashley Bayes, gave the league leaders an uncomfortable last minute or so. When the end came the home support sent their rivals away with a reminder of their league position.

BOHEMIANS: Bayes; Lynch, Hawkins (Coughlan, 76 mins), McNally, Webb; Ryan (Harkin, 84 mins), Caffrey, Hunt, Rutherford (Morrison, 74 mins); Crowe, Keegan.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Horgan; O'Keeffe, McGuinness, Scully, Doyle; Robinson (Deans, half-time), Colwell, Kenny (Caffrey, 66 mins), Byrne; Hunt (Francis, 59 mins), T Grant.

Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).