Shamrock Rovers 2 Sligo Rovers 1:THERE WAS gentle hint of chaos before the kick-off at Tallaght last night where increasingly frantic attempts to pair off 3,500 supporters with precisely the same number of seats came to resemble an anarchic game of musical chairs at around 8pm.

After the 22-year nightmare they've endured since leaving Milltown, though, struggling to cope with the challenge presented by a full house contributed to the storybook nature of this much-awaited homecoming. Needless to say, the result also broadened the smiles on the faces of the home side's diehards with goals from Gary Twigg and Dessie Baker enough to get Rovers off to a winning start in their new ground. At least as importantly, the game, if not quite a classic, provided the crowd with a good deal more entertainment than their first run out at the RDS.

Just how well Rovers can really do over the course of their first season here remains to be seen but there was a good deal for their supporters to draw encouragement from even if they did ease up too much at the end of each half.

Experienced hands like Shane Robinson, Ollie Cahill and Dessie Baker made key contributions while Twigg looked dangerous, and one or two of the youngsters, notably Simon Madden, appeared to thrive on their new stage.

For the opening half an hour Rovers dominated and had Twigg not had two of the three goals he scored during that time disallowed then the scoreline wouldn't have flattered the home side. His first was ruled out, rightly it seemed, for offside, while the third had been set up by Baker whose push on a Sligo defender was spotted by Alan Kelly. In between, though, the Scot scored one that counted when Shane Robinson's long, floated free was flicked on twice for the striker who turned his marker well before burying his shot to the roof of the net.

At that stage the home support must have thought they were going to witness a rout but having looked dominant in every area Michael O'Neill's men began to loosen their grip on things in the closing stages when first Richie Ryan and then Rafael Cretaro carved out fairly decent chances.

The visitors, though, failed to capitalise on their improvement and after the break they were punished when Cahill skipped his way past a handful of challenges down the left before crossing for local boy Baker whose shot took a slight deflection on the way to the bottom right corner.

Again the locals looked well capable of adding to their lead with Twigg and Robinson forcing saves from Richard Brush over the next 30 minutes. The third wouldn't come, however, and gradually the visiting defence started to get to grips with things again.

The scoring opportunities may have dried up for Rovers but a comeback still seemed unlikely until, almost out of nothing, Gavin Peers stole a goal back for Paul Cook's men with a close-range header seven minutes from time.

Shortly afterwards Eoin Torpey sent a long-range effort over to leave the home support seeming less confident. In the end, they whistled with a hint of desperation for the referee to call a halt and before Sligo could spoil the party he obliged to wrap up a very memorable night for the Dubliners.

SHAMROCK ROVERS:Murphy; Madden, Webb, Price, Bermingham; Bradley (Doyle, 83 mins), Robinson, Rice, Cahill; Baker (Purcell, 73 mins), Twigg (Cameron, 89 mins).

SLIGO ROVERS:Brush; Noctor (McTiernan, 80 mins), Peers, Ventre, Holmes; Cash (Parkhouse, 58 mins), O'Grady, Ryan (Torpey, 58 mins), Morrison; Cretaro, Boco.

Referee:A Kelly (Cork).