Premier Division: Shamrock Rovers 2 (McGovern 35, Watts 76) Bohemians 1 (Tierney 71)
Dylan Watts’s 76th-minute winner ensured Shamrock Rovers took a giant leap towards winning a sixth League of Ireland title in seven seasons.
Tempers flared at the full-time whistle. Two skirmishes broke out on the pitch. The first had Rovers manager Stephen Bradley dragging his assistant coach Glenn Crowe away from the Bohemians manager Alan Reynolds.
The other saw a coming-together of players that fizzled out when the Rovers squad realised the significance of their achievement. Six points clear with three games remaining, they spun away from the melee, towards their fans in the south stand.
In any title race, especially amid the blur of Rovers’ dominance throughout the 2020s, only the special moments are remembered.
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Watts’s goal should stand the test of time.
With a record attendance of 10,208, for a competitive match at Tallaght Stadium, supporters were gripped by a Dublin derby that the evergreen Watts settled by ghosting behind the cover to stretch and score off a long throw by Will Fitzgerald.
Twelve months ago, it was Watts, the quietly efficient midfielder, who whipped in a free-kick against Galway United to capture a fifth Premier Division title in six seasons. Their remaining matches are against Galway, Sligo Rovers and Dundalk - and they may need two wins and a draw from those fixtures, depending on results elsewhere, most particularly in the four matches that nearest rivals St Pat’s have left.
This was Bohemians’ chance to catch Rovers cold.
It initially seemed like John McGovern’s 14th goal of the season was going to settle a tense contest. McGovern struck for the fifth time in three games. That was not enough to see off Bohs.
Watts took care of that in a stunning reply to Ross Tierney’s scrappy equaliser five minutes earlier.
Bradley’s men rediscovered their groove when it really mattered. Pico Lopes, clearly over his World Cup hangover, looked sharp and mean at the heart of the defence. Matt Healy stood out in a midfield that included the recently capped Bohs captain Dawson Devoy. Even the European meltdown of late August is consigned to the Bradley notebook of lessons learned.
McGovern’s headed finish on the Bohemians goal line, 10 minutes before half-time, was created by Graham Burke’s rapid movement, a pirouette to freeze seven red shirts and the neatest cross imaginable from the Ireland international’s left toe.
For McGovern it was rapid redemption as moments earlier he had sidefooted a glorious chance wide of Paul Walters’s goal. The movement of the former Down Gaelic footballer and Burke, as they cut Bohs open to reward Daniel Cleary for unburdening Colm Whelan of possession in the Rovers box, deserved a goal.
Rovers may be hoping referee Rob Hennessy forgets to mention what happened between the 25th and 27th minute in his match report; the Dublin Fire Brigade had to extinguish multiple flames down the south end following an explosion of fireworks. As green smoke blanketed the pitch, hiding players and officials, Hennessy blew for a hydration break.
The sheets of rain cleared up with the smoke as the derby eventually restarted.
It was the ultimate spectacle for the league; a crowd made up of a hefty number of fans of both clubs was transfixed by the football, with St Patrick’s Athletic manager Stephen Kenny the most interested spectator.
The fading hope of the title race being revived depends on St Pat’s beating Shelbourne at Richmond Park on Friday and Rovers, somehow, losing away to Galway and at home to the almost relegated Sligo.
This was the chance for Reynolds, Devoy and Bohs to strike a blow against Bradley, Lopes and Rovers. But it was Burke’s class that shone through; the man of the match took the ball at the end and shielded it when his team needed him the most.
“It was a huge game,” said Burke, “the ones you want to play in. It’s a huge three points for us, Bohs played well. Three more games to go, three huge games, we need to keep going.”
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty; Cleary, Lopes, Grace; Sobowale, Byrne (J O’Sullivan 65), Grace, Watts (Razi 85), Fitzgerald (C O’Sullivan 80); Burke (Greene 80); McGovern (Afolbai 80).
Bohemians: Walters; Power, Hickey, Todd, Flores; Devoy (Parsons 63), McDonnell (Burke 15, Diallo 81); Parsons (Vaughan 81), Tierney, Rooney (James-Taylor 60); Whelan (Strods 60).
Referee: Rob Hennessy.
