Rampant Rovers respond with rout of reduced Galway

Shamrock Rovers 6 Galway U 0:IN THE wake of his side's biggest defeat for three years, Rovers manager Michael O'Neill said he'd be looking for a reaction from his side here last night. As the final whistle sounded it seemed safe to assume the northerner was happy with a performance that yielded six goals for the first time since 2002.

The whole thing was a little harsh on Galway. Having had their goalkeeper sent off as they conceded the first less than a quarter of an hour in, they never came to grips with their opponents.

But the league leaders still booked their place in this year’s semi-finals in some style with strong performances in just about every department. They threatened to yield goals almost every time they went forward, and James Chambers grabbed two outstanding efforts from outside the area.

Rovers, of course, went into the game as strong favourites, but Galway would have hoped a good performance might enable them to compound the league leaders’ misery in the wake of the rout up in Oriel Park – or at least, more realistically, take the tie back to Terryland.

Little more than 10 minutes into the game, though, their hopes of an upset were effectively dead when Thomas Stewart powered the ball into an empty net for the opener, after which Barry Ryan was sent off for getting a little carried away in his protest to referee Anthony Buttimer that Chambers had handled as the pair went for the ball just before it ran to the unmarked striker.

Ryan, having charged towards him to pursue his case, was booked. But the goalkeeper then got a red card, reportedly for calling the match official what crowds call referees the world over.

The incident lasted just a few seconds and Ryan was walking away from the referee from the time he was shown the yellow card, so following up with the red looked a remarkable call by Buttimer.

Whatever the referee’s thinking, it was disastrous from a Galway point of view.

A goal as well as a man down, the visitors didn’t have the option of simply digging in and hoping to scrape by for a replay. Seán Connor’s decision to stick with two men up front, though, always looked risky, and soon United’s three-man midfield was being played through for fun by a home side which had initially seemed too inclined to simply bypass it with long balls forward.

Having gifted their hosts that first goal, United didn’t even require that a Rovers player provide a finish for the second as Rhys Meynell turned Stewart’s low cross past replacement goalkeeper Daire Geraghty and in off the far post.

From there in it was pretty much a romp, with Rovers struggling, it seemed at times, to showboat a little. With Stewart outstanding, the home side simply overwhelmed their overstretched visitors, pushing the ball about with confidence and flair.

The third goal was a gem with a long, patient build-up culminating in a quick series of passes down the left that in turn ended with Chambers picking up possession on the edge of area, turning and driving past Geraghty to the far top corner.

The home side did suffer one setback with Seán O’Connor badly injured in a challenge just minutes after coming on at the break, but that paved the way for Dessie Baker’s return after a long lay-off of his own and the striker was very much at the heart of the home side’s second-half charge.

He was involved in the fourth goal, which Chambers finished wonderfully from 25 metres after a terrific build-up involving Billy Dennehy and Stewart.

Baker then looked set to score himself but his shot was saved by Geraghty, only for the young goalkeeper to spill the ball into the path of Gary Twigg.

Baker finally wrapped things up with a cool finish to another sweeping break forward.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus; Murphy, Price, Sives, Stevens; Chambers, Rice (O’Connor, h-t; Baker, 51 mins), Turner, Dennehy; Twigg (Downes, 67 mins), Stewart.

GALWAY UNITED: Ryan; Conneely, Sinnott, McKenzie, Meynell; Curran, Reilly (Geraghty, 13 mins), O’Donnell, O’Brien; Sheppard (Keogh, 78 mins), Walshe (King, 71 mins).

Referee: A Buttimer (Cork).