Soccer

Shamrock Rovers outclass Bohemians in front of record League of Ireland crowd

New stand at Tallaght Stadium sees a record crowd of 10,094 pass through the turnstiles to see the champions win this Dublin derby

Shamrock Rovers’ Darragh Burns celebrates scoring his side’s second goal against Bohemians. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Shamrock Rovers’ Darragh Burns celebrates scoring his side’s second goal against Bohemians. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
Gavin Cummiskey at Tallaght Stadium
Fri Mar 29 2024 - 22:09
League of Ireland Premier Division: Shamrock Rovers 3 Bohemians 1

No escape, Bohemians were hemmed in.

Forced to make desperate clearances to the waiting feet of Shamrock Rovers’ horseshoe attack, goals from Johnny Kenny, Darragh Burns and Aaron Greene settled this Dublin derby.

Rovers snatched a two-nil lead early in the second half as the champions snuffed out any hint of a classic before this record 10,094 Premier Division crowd.

The third goal, with 15 minutes remaining, had visiting fans flooding to the exits to catch a Luas into town. They had seen enough after Darragh Nugent beat two defenders before cutting back for Greene to shrug off Aboubacar Keita and finish past Kacper Chorazka.

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“You got to be stronger,” said Kenny Cunningham on the live RTÉ feed as Bohs’ new manager Alan Reynolds instantly whipped off the New York defender.

Keita cannot carry all the blame. Stephen Bradley’s five-in-a-row chasing outfit had too much quality and were too switched on with Graham Burke deserving a special mention for how he toyed with Bohemians, gifting Reynolds a baptism of Tallaght fire.

Slowly but surely, the game outflanked an occasion that recorded the most people inside a League of Ireland ground for 33 years.

Rovers have developed a bad habit under Bradley of needing to grow into each campaign. Before kick-off they had a single win and four draws to leave them seventh, 10 points off Damien Duff’s Shelbourne.

No goals after 45 minutes across all five top tier matches was a bad advertisement for the league but Shelbourne eventually beat Dundalk 2-1 to go seven clear of Sligo Rovers at the top.

Rovers had the better chances in the first half with Pico Lopes heading straight at Chorazka on the half hour before the excellent Burns drew a save from the Pole.

Down the other end, James Clarke missed a tiny window to profit from James Akintunde’s flick on and quick pass by Dylan Connolly.

Bohs needed that half-chance to drop as Kenny was reeling away in delight before the second half had settled, following sharp contributions by Burns and Dylan Watts.

The second goal came four minutes later, this time Paddy Kirk appeared to be exposed by Burns’ movement and a classy spin by Burke.

Declan McDaid grabbed a consolation goal for Bohs in injury-time but the magnitude of the task facing Reynolds is undeniable now.

Shamrock Rovers fans celebrate Johnny Kenny’s goal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
Shamrock Rovers fans celebrate Johnny Kenny’s goal. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho

Back to the occasion. If you build it, they will come. South Dublin County Council constructed a fourth stand and sure enough, they came in their droves. Rovers’ first full house in their rented abode was always going to be against Bohs, two football institutions operating off contrasting funding models, both chasing Shels in the early season running.

Speaking of Shels, manager Damien Duff was on the money pre-match: “The last two weeks has highlighted that the leading light of Irish football, is not the national team but the league itself. It is bigger, better, more exciting and more important. Every true Irish football fan has been waiting for this Friday, nothing else.”

The Aviva stadium felt like a fast food restaurant supported by international games during this week’s Belgium and Switzerland friendlies. Tallaght felt like a proper football ground last night, supported by plenty of food and beverage options.

Bohs even gave the FAI a mini-lesson in how to fire and hire the manager within a snappy 16 days. That’s how long it took them to zip from Declan Devine to Reynolds. On March 10th, Devine was sacked. On March 15th, Derek Pender guided them to a 2-1 win over Derry City at home as Pat Fenlon and club officials spoke to Stephen Kenny – 129 days since leaving the Ireland job – about returning to Phibsborough. On March 26th, Bohs hired Reynolds on a rolling contract, three days before this seminal Dublin derby.

This is what a fully professional football league looks like. It’s still a far cry from the 1945 FAI Cup final at Dalymount Park when 41,238 watched Rovers beat Bohs 1-0.

“Remarkable that a football game tonight could have sold 12-14,000, maybe more [away tickets were limited],” said Daniel Lambert, Bohs’ chief operating officer. “And the 10,000 going can only attend this sole stadium. No other sport on the island is so massively constrained by infrastructure - it needs to be fast-tracked with government policy.”

Rovers have their infrastructure in place. And an unstoppable looking squad.

Shamrock Rovers: Pohls; Cleary, Grace, Lopes, Honohan; Watts (Towell, 70), O’Neill (Poom,57); Nugent, Burke (Noonan, 82), Burns (Clarke, 82); Kenny (Greene,70).

Bohemians: Chorazka; Lilander, Mills, Keita (J McManus, 76), Kirk; Flores, Rooney, Clarke, McDonnell (Grant, 64); Connolly (B McManus, 64); Akintunde (McDaid, 71).

Referee: Robert Harvey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey

Gavin Cummiskey is The Irish Times' Soccer Correspondent