UCD 0
Shamrock Rovers 3
SHAMROCK ROVERS EXTENDED their lead at the top of the Premier Division to seven points after a facile victory over basement club UCD at the Bowl.
First-half goals from Barry Cotter, Danny Mandroiu and Rory Gaffney extended the league leaders’ unbeaten run to 13 games with their fourth successive win.
It was men against boys, literally, in Belfield as the defending champions had the game wrapped up before the midway point of the opening half.
The Hoops opened the scoring in the fifth minute after Jack Byrne dropped into the six position and clipped a beautiful diagonal ball to Cotter who made no mistake with a close-range header. Another fabulous assist to add to the highlight reel for the talismanic midfielder.
Rovers doubled their lead in the seventeenth minute and it was all about Mandroiu. Last week’s match-winner was involved with some neat interplay on the edge of the box with Gaffney before he was on hand to bury the ball past the hapless Kian Moore.
UCD were largely cumbersome going forward in the absence of Colm Whelan but Andy Myler will feel his side should have halved the deficit when Liam Kerrigan fired high and wide when bearing down on goal.
Jack Byrne went down off the ball and was replaced on 38 minutes but that didn’t knock Rovers out of their stride and substitute Aaron Greene played a key role in the third goal, winning the ball high and after combining with Dylan Watts he laid the ball to Gaffney to tap home.
Stephen Bradley rang the changes at half time with Gary O’Neill, Neil Farrugia and Aidomo Emakhu entering the fray and the game was played at a pace akin to a pre-season friendly.
UCD had recovered well from their 7-1 drubbing up at the Brandywell, picking up four points from their next three games including a first win of the season away to Finn Harps last week. They might have been fearing another pasting but the pedestrian pace of the second period kept the score down.
Despite Rovers’ dominance, Moore had become a relative spectator in the second half but Mandroiu stung his palms with a free-kick ten minutes from time.
Farrugia was the bright spark for Rovers in the second half cutting onto his stronger left foot but was wild with his two efforts as the game petered out towards the 90.
UCD: Kian Moore; Sam Todd (c), John Ryan (Evan Caffrey 53), Evan Osam, Eric Yoro; Adam Verdon (Dylan Duffy 53), Liam Kerrigan, Jack Keaney, Eoin Farrell (Thomas Lonergan 68); Alex Nolan (Dara Keane 53), Lennon Gill (Donal Higgins 68).
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Andy Lyons (Neil Farrugia 46), Pico, Sean Hoare, Sean Gannon, Barry Cotter (Kieran Cruise 57); Richie Towell (Gary O’Neill 46), Daniel Mandroiu, Jack Byrne (Aaron Greene 38), Dylan Watts; Rory Gaffney (Aidomo Emakhu 46).
