PREMIER DIVISION/Shamrock Rovers 2 Longford Town 0: Longford will see little amusement in the quip of football being a funny old game as this match was turned on its head by the sending off of their defender Seán Dillon.
The midlanders were quite superb for nearly an hour, passing the ball well and creating chances, before their house fell in following Dillon's dismissal.
Central defender Dillon, impressive up till then, was shown two yellow cards in quick succession, the first for pulling down Trevor Molloy in the 54th minute. He then kicked the ball away after a foul by Graham Gartland on Shane Robinson.
Dublin referee Paul Tuite, who had incensed Longford when not giving them what looked a clear penalty in the first half, brandished yellow cards for each offence and Dillon was off.
Not in the game until them, Rovers took the lead on 68 minutes when Robinson dived low to head home Pat Deans' diagonal ball from the left.
Molloy created the second two minutes later when getting away down the left to cross for the unmarked Rutherford to steer home from close range.
Mark O'Brien came close to adding a third goal six minutes from time, but his shot came back off a post.
Longford have now won once in the league in 12 games, managing just three goals during that run, and remain second bottom of the table.
They know it should have been so very different, however. Their UEFA Cup exit had injury added to insult with a cruciate ligament tear, suffered in the last week's defeat to FC Vaduz, ending Darragh Sheridan's season while Stephen Paisley and Barry Ferguson also suffered injuries.
So annoyed at not featuring in last Thursday's European game, striker Seán Francis put in a transfer request and didn't even make the bench last night.
Perhaps stung by the criticism of their European knockout, Longford started impressively, creating three good chances inside 14 minutes. Referee Tuite then drew the wrath of the Longford players, bench and fans when not giving them a penalty for what looked a clear trip on Barrett by Rovers' midfielder Steven Gough on 30 minutes.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: N Mooney; Croly, McGuinness, Palmer, Doyle; Robinson, Gough, O'Halloran (Deans, 63 mins), Rutherford; Molloy, D Mooney (O'Brien, 53 mins).
LONGFORD TOWN: O'Brien; A Murphy (Martin, 72 mins), Dillon, Gartland, Prunty; Kirby (McGovern, 58), Perth, Fitzgerald, Barrett; Baker, Lavine.
Referee: P Tuite (Dublin).
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