Roberto Lopes puts the pressure on during the Rovers Boehmians match last friday night
Photo by George Kelly
Rovers ‘had to ride out storm in the second half’
SHAMROCK Rovers defeated Bohemians in the Dublin Derby on Friday evening in Tallaght Stadium with a 2-1 scoreline.
Rovers availed of some fortune with Graham Burke capitalising on a mistake in the Bohemian’s defence to put Rovers 1-0 up just after the five minute mark.
Rovers continued to dominate possession for the first 20 minutes but as the half wore on Bohemians managed to work their way back into the fixture and would come close in the 43rd minute with a Jordan Flores header from a corner kick striking the post rather than find its way to the back of the net.
Just seconds later Rovers would be awarded a penalty at the other end with Dawson Devoy apparently fouling Danny Grant in what has been considered a dubious decision to say the least in the aftermath of the game.
Burke made no mistake from the spot however and slotted home to score his 102nd competitive goal for Rovers and to give them a 2-0 lead heading into the halftime interval.
The second half saw Bohemians launch waves of pressure at the Rovers defence but they would be unable to get the ball in the back of the net until the end of the game when they would be awarded a penalty of their own.
It would be too little too late for the away side as Rovers maintained for a 2-1 win, keeping top spot in the league and now unbeaten in nine games.
Stephen Bradley touched on the performance after the game as well as refereeing decisions.
“It was a penalty. I’ve watched it for 10 seconds and it was a penalty, like their one was.
“But forget the penalties, sometimes referees are too eager to get involved in games and throw out silly yellow cards early and then in those games things happen.
“But he didn’t, he allowed the game to breathe and contact for both sides. Sometimes we are calling for fouls. We didn’t get them, they were the same. We accept that if it’s going both ways.
“They’re both penalties in my opinion but we don’t want VAR, that’s for sure.”
“After Dalymount everyone was quick to say ‘Oh, you didn’t run, you didn’t fight, you didn’t do this’. Nonsense. It’s momentum in games.
“Are you going to say that about them in the first half? No, but we go and take the moments and take the game and in the second half they take it.
“You have to be measured and understand the game, what’s happening, and not get caught up in lazy opinions or views of the game.
“I’ve managed enough of them to understand it’s moments or it’s momentum. Here we obviously took our moments and had to ride out the storm in the second half.”
Rovers next face a lengthy away trip as they travel to Brandywell to take on Derry City this Friday evening.
