While there was a drama around the country, Rovers had the firepower to drain suspense from proceedings in front of their lowest crowd of the season, with a 4,011 turnout quite disappointing given the quality of players on show.
Stephen Bradley was critical of his side’s performance levels against Waterford on Friday and was much happier here; the bottom line outcome is that even if there’s a variance in performance, they get the job done more often than everybody else in a league riddled with inconsistency.
Bradley said the difficult conversations that were required over the weekend are a big part of their longevity.
“We’ve been together a long time, a lot of us, and we don’t do that by lying to each other and pretending we’ve hit our standards when we haven’t,” he said.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job if we didn’t have those tough conversations, and I think they’re important. The players understand when we haven’t been good enough.”
Mondays in Tallaght can be strangely subdued, even though there is always quality on show.
Drogheda’s liberated away support, allowed to attend a road fixture for the first time since their infamous trip to Oriel Park in February, brought energy to proceedings but their team couldn’t match that in the opening half.
Ben Mahon of Shamrock Rovers (17) up against Drogheda United’s James Bolger. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile
Rovers were dominant without being exceptional. What they got right was the execution of the big moments with a pair of corners giving them a two-goal lead into the break.
The first had a degree of controversy about it as John McGovern looked to be offside as he raced onto a Victor Ozhianvuna through ball and forced a stop from Fynn Talley that created the dead-ball situation.
Drogs switched off from Jack Byrne’s delivery and McGovern atoned for his miss with a right-footer that found a way beyond Talley. The second goal was a more conventional set-piece effort with Byrne’s floater dispatched by the head of Matt Healy.
“Rovers will say they were two good set pieces,” said frustrated Drogs boss Kevin Doherty, a former centre-half. “But they just weren’t marked. I was literally in the middle of the training pitch yesterday, showing people how to mark. We didn’t do it.”
Drogheda, who started with regular defender James Bolger in midfield, just couldn’t put enough pressure on Rovers in their own half and they sought to address it after half-time.
There was a let-off when Talley denied Aaron Greene before the Boynesiders temporarily made things interesting as Mark Doyle picked up the afters of a long throw to halve the deficit. He turned home a speculative Jago Godden shot with the Kiwi lively in a spell where Brandon Kavanagh threatened to level it up.
But it was short-lived with Rovers always able to find another gear. Ozhianvuna has become a very important player and is banking minutes for his pre-Arsenal education with another clever long-range pass after he skipped away from Godden exposing a yawning gap that allowed McGovern to restore the two-goal cushion.
Doherty was furious that Andrew Quinn, his centre-half, didn’t go down to force a stoppage because he had a setback that meant he was about to be immediately replaced.
That tied in with his general concerns about a void in leadership and game management with the unavailability of Ryan Brennan a blow.
Drogheda were wide open again as McGovern released Maleace Asamoah for the fourth and after that it was time for both benches to make changes with a busy month ahead in mind. Rovers should be in control of their destiny by the end of it.
Shamrock Rovers: McGinty, Cleary (Mulraney 72), Grace, Matthews (Stevens 72); Sobowale, Healy (Razi 72), Ozhianvuna, Asamoah; Byrne (J O’Sullivan 72); Greene (Mahon 72), McGovern.
Drogheda United: Talley, Agbaje, Keeley (Burney 72), Quinn (Davis 59), Kane; Bolger, Godden; Bucknor, Kavanagh, Cruise (Kareem 72); Doyle (Oluwa 67).
Referee: Aaron O’Dowd.