MADDEN: “We really have to be going for the jugular”

SIMON Madden rescued Shamrock Rovers with a stoppage time winner as they edged out Finn Harps 3-2 on Friday night in Tallaght Stadium.

The talented full back, struck in stoppage time to spare his side’s blushes after they had coughed up a two-goal lead, with the Tallaght man insisting the Hoops need to be capitalising more on their chances.

Indeed after a blistering start that saw Stephen Bradley’s side twice hit the mark in the opening quarter of an hour through David McAllister and Ronan Finn, Rovers were stunned by an even quicker second-half brace by Harps’ Caolan McAleer and Paddy McCourt.

Yet all their resilient work unravelled at the death when they failed to properly deal with Michael O’Connor’s delivery and Madden punished with a nice dink to the target.

“I was delighted to score. It was my first competitive goal in about three years,” Madden told The Echo.

“The last time I scored was against Sligo and it was 1-0, so it was the winning goal in that game too.”

Given that Rovers were coming into this match off the back of defeats at the hands of St Patrick’s Athletic and Cork City, dropping more points on Friday would have been a huge blow.

“It would have been hard to take,” agreed Madden.

“To go 2-0 up and be cruising in the first half. It was probably the best we’ve played all season.

“The next goal would have been key. We could have won by four or five, but it was disappointing to let them back into it.

“We knew they were going to come at us. They had nothing to lose and we said we had to start [the second half] as if it was 0-0. Our game management needed to be better. It was disappointing to go 2-2, but we showed real character to get the win.

“It’s important that when you’re on top you have to be ruthless and kill off the games. We really have to be going for the jugular.

“We have the players to do that. We played with the two up front on Friday and we created chances. We will beat a team by four or five goals and we are due a clean sheet.

“After every game we’ve learned something, something different and that’s good. We’ve learned from different mistakes and we know how to deal with that the next time,” he pointed out.

Madden and his team-mates will now be turning their attention to tonight’s trip to Drogheda United.

After a promising start to the season that brought it wins over Galway United and St Pat’s, the Drogs have gone on a five-match losing streak that has left them third from bottom in the Premier.

Still Madden believes they will get nothing easy at United Park saying:  “It’s going to be tough. It’s a small, little pitch up there and, with Rovers coming to town, they [Drogheda] will be up for a real battle.

“But these are the games you want to be getting the three points in.

“After the first round of games the league tends to settle down so hopefully we can start putting a good run together and climbing the table” he added.