Stephen Bradley was happy with how his team responded after their defeat to Bohs
Photo by Mark McDermott
Rovers respond with victory over Waterford
SHAMROCK Rovers overcame the 2-0 Bohemians defeat with a win over Waterford at Tallaght stadium last Friday evening.
It would be Rovers strength in depth that would cause them to ultimately prevail with substitute Rory Gaffney being the one to put the ball into the back of the net in the 75th minute.
Securing the win was vital for Rovers. As the clock crept towards full time and a draw became more and more likely many may have begun to stay that they were entering into a blip in form after the loss to Bohemians earlier on last week.
With European fixtures very much in their near future the last thing that Rovers need to be suffering with now is a confidence crisis and they ensured that this wouldn’t be the case with the victory against Waterford.
What is also worth noting is that the fixture actually saw the lowest home crowd that Tallaght has seen for the men’s team all season.
Next week’s game against Sligo Rovers marks the last league game that Rovers will play for almost an entire month as they find themselves occupied with domestic cup and UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
It is vital that they secure as many points as possible now before their attention is diverted elsewhere.
Speaking on the game Stephen Bradley discussed the importance of Rovers responding after defeat to Bohemians.
“I thought we were excellent tonight, we knew that we needed to respond after Monday in terms of performance levels and I thought we were excellent around the pitch.
‘Our energy in and out of possession and our tempo, some of our play was really really good. We had to work hard for the winner obviously but all round I don’t think you can fault the players. I thought they were excellent.”
St Pats poor run of form has unfortunately continued this past week with the club failing to beat a bottom of the table Cork City side.
The match at Turners Cross was a drab affair by all accounts with Pats lucky not to be heading into the interval a goal down after a Kitt Nelson chance just before halftime.
Ultimately the game would end 0-0 with neither side really doing enough to secure all three points.
Both teams recent run of form sees them as the worst preforming sides in the league over the last five games and Pats have plummeted from being title outsiders to barely in the European spot conversation over the last month or so.
Something clearly needs to change in Richmond Park with them having the most accomplished manager and one of the strongest squads in the league.
They next play crosstown rivals Bohemians in Inchicore in a game where they will be desperate to pick up three points in. A win would be their first in six games.
