Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley will be pleased with his sides result
Big win for Shamrock Rovers in Europe
Shamrock Rovers enjoyed a fruitful trip to Gibraltar on Thursday evening as they managed to score four past St Joseph’s, putting themselves in an excellent position for the second leg of the Europa Conference League in Tallaght next Thursday.
Rovers made use of their excellent squad depth with only four players starting who lined out against Wexford FC in the FAI Cup last Sunday.
Those being Lee Grace, Ed McGinty, Pico Lopes and Josh Honohan.
Rovers would open up the scoring with Rory Gaffney converting in the first quarter of the game.
St Joseph’s would refuse to roll over however and attempted to mount attacks towards the Rovers goal though their efforts failed to create any real meaningful chances.
Rovers backline of Dan Cleary, Lee Grace and Roberto Lopes provided more than enough experience to expertly deal with any adversity that came their way paired of course with Ed McGinty in goal.
Lee Grace was in Europa Conference League action for Shamrock Rovers on Thursday evening Photo by George Kelly
It would be the introduction of talisman Jack Byrne that would cement Rovers’ status on top and ensure they would run out the victors.
Following Byrne’s introduction Rovers would score three goals in the next eight minute period with Danny Mandriou, recent signing John McGovern and Byrne himself all contributing to the 4-0 rout.
An encounter that had the potential to be a banana skin for Rovers considering the difficulties that Joseph’s gave Cliftonville this year and Shelbourne in 2024 the final score saw them cruise to victory untouched and unphased.
They have positioned all the odds in their favour regarding progressing to the next round and are one small step closer to fulfilling their European goal, that being to qualify for the group stages of the Conference League.
