Emakhu strikes late to clinch it for Hoops

A LATE goal by 17-year-old Aidomo Emakhu clinched a dramatic 1-0 victory for Shamrock Rovers over KF Teuta Durrës in the first-leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League tie in Tallaght Stadium tonight, writes Eoghan Gardiner.

The decisive score came in injury time, with a fresh Emakhu only barely on the pitch before he found the net after replacing Rory Gaffney – a superb way to mark his first appearance in European competition.

Rory Gaffney holds off Hristijan Dragarski       (Image – Paddy Barrett)

Rovers dominated from the first-half to the final whistle with a number of goal-scoring opportunities, including a ball from Rory Gaffney which landed in the box at the feet of strike partner Danny Mandroiu, who got a shot off, but failed to challenge the keeper.

Another opening for the Hoops arrived in the form of a corner kick from Dylan Watts to which Liam Scales got his head, but his effort sailed over.

The KF Teuta backline were put to the test by the Rovers frontline from an early stage, and it was almost unhinged when Lee Grace headed a free kick just wide of the mark.

After replacing Richie Towell in the second half, Aaron Greene immediately attempted to make an impact by pressing the Teuta defence.

Faced with a technically superior opposition, Teuta were forced into conceding a number of fouls and were in no hurry to play a quickly-paced game, as their defenders and goalkeeper Stivi Frasheri regularly found themselves on the back foot.

The Albanian sides’ chances were far and few between, as their best attempts came in the second half when Pepi Georgiev made a break on goal, but was stopped by Hoops defender Roberto Lopes.

Danny Mandroiu closly watched by Asion Daja (Image – Paddy Barrett)

Another opportunity came when Asion Daja made a run down the right-wing, but was thwarted by a tackle from Liam Scales.

That was the closest they came to unlocking Rovers who will be hoping to build on their narrow advantage in the return leg in Albania next Thursday.