St. Joseph’s 0 Shamrock Rovers 4
And Shamrock Rovers have done just that by taking a giant step towards the Conference League third qualifying round after a ruthless second-half display against St Joseph’s sees the Hoops bring a commanding lead back to Tallaght for next Thursday’s second-leg.
Rory Gaffney’s early goal gave the Hoops the perfect start and although the visitors still led by a single goal by the hour mark, three strikes in eight minutes from Danny Mandroiu, John McGovern and Jack Byrne put this tie firmly to bed.
After last season’s historic run to the knockouts, this summer the Dublin 24 outfit are aiming to become the first League of Ireland side to qualify for a league phase without coming through the champions’ route. They have made the perfect start to that target and are now within touching distance of a third round tie against either Ballkani (Kosovo) or Floriana (Malta), while progression would also bring their pot up €900k.
The last League of Ireland side to visit Gibraltar’s Europa Point Stadium was Shelbourne, as Damien Duff’s men were pushed hard by the hosts 12 months ago, but the Hoops’ recent European experience showed here as they avoided this banana skin with clinical finishing to kill the tie.
The Hoops went close in the early stages as a clever cross found an unmarked Gaffney, but his effort was straight at Banda. The Galway native may have wasted his first chance but he made no mistake with his second to hand Rovers a dream start on 13 minutes.
A sweet through ball by Watts cut through the heart of the home defence and put Gaffney one-on-one with Banda. The 35-year-old raced forward to get there first and his deft flick beat the goalkeeper and found the net. After scoring 17 goals in last season’s historic campaign, the Hoops were off the mark again.
It was advantage Rovers but after a period of sustained pressure, St Joseph’s broke on the counter and were able to win a corner after Ed McGinty misjudged a routine catch. A smart short corner routine teed up an unmarked Facundo Alvarez on the edge of the box but the Argentinian’s effort flew just over the bar.
After a brief water break amid the 22 degree heat, Rovers went close again as a clever short free kick put Graham Burke, the club’s record goalscorer in the Tallaght Stadium era, through on the left flank, but the forward’s strike was straight at the goalkeeper.
The Saints asked a couple of questions of the Rovers backline but the experienced Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace and Dan Cleary, a trio with 129 European appearances between them, dealt with everything that came their way. Mandroiu should have done better with a chance just before the whistle, but was saved by the offside flag as the Hoops went in at the break full value for their one-goal lead.
For all of their first-half dominance, Rovers were given a warning by the hosts minutes into the restart as centre-half Javi Paul went up for a corner and saw his header sail just wide of McGinty’s goal.
Mandroiu worked himself into a good position on 53 minutes but saw his curler go post the wrong side of the post, while Cleary went close moments later, the former Liverpool man forcing a good save out of Banda.
A double switch by the hosts on the hour mark did little to change things, but it was Bradley’s changes soon after which helped his side put the tie to bed.
Six minutes after Mandroiu doubled the Hoops’ lead with the help of a big deflection, summer signing McGovern marked his European debut with his first European goal barely a minute after entering the fray, the former Down inter-county footballer converting a low cross from the left to make it three.
And the Hoops made it two goals in two minutes when substitute Byrne got in on the act with a fabulous strike from just outside the box. The two-time PFAI Player of the Year failed to score in Europe last season, but he’s off the mark now.
What threatened to be a tricky tie on the seaside soon turned out to be a comfortable walk in the park for the Hoops. A perfect start to what they hope will be another long, enthralling European adventure.
St Joseph’s: Banda; Jolley (Volz 29), Javi Paul, Barba, Martinez (Forjan 58); Alvarez, Juanma, Manuel Sanchez; Rey, Rodriguez, Armental (Gibson 58).
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty; Grace, Lopes, Cleary; Grant (Nugent 80), Mandroiu (McGovern 71), Healy, Watts (McEneff 64), Honohan; Burke (Byrne 64), Gaffney (Noonan 71).
Ref: M MacDermid (Scotland).