Greg Bolger was injured in the warm-up for the Bohs debacle and was also out for the Hoops defeat in Oriel Park. There's no doubt that Stephen Bradley's men missed his calming influence in the midfield engine room and there's little coincidence at
Greg Bolger was injured in the warm-up for the Bohs debacle and was also out for the Hoops defeat in Oriel Park.
There's no doubt that Stephen Bradley's men missed his calming influence in the midfield engine room and there's little coincidence at all that the return of the ex-St Patrick's Athletic star saw Rovers edge the South Dublin derby 1-0 against his former club.
"Nice to be back out there helping the lads to a hard earned win," was Bolger's succinct and modest assessment after Ronan Finn's first half side foot strike gave Rovers victory.
Centre back Roberto Lopes was in ebullient form after linking up again with Lee Grace (following the latter's suspension for the Dundalk match) to mastermind another defensive clean sheet at Tallaght (the fifth in the league at home this season). "If anyone would have said to us that we'd go eight wins in a row you'd have snatched their hand off at the start of the season.
"It has been a really good run for us. You are always going to hit speed bumps during the season and lose a game. We just needed to bounce back and focus on where the next three points were going to come from."
"Defensively, it has been really good. We all understand each other. We communicate really well across the back four and with Al (Goalkeeper Alan Mannus). Playing in front of Al is pretty easy as you know you have a top top goalkeeper behind you and if a striker does get in, you have a really strong chance that Al will dig you out."
"That confidence goes through our back four. We know we have enough quality in our team to get goals from anywhere. We know if we do our job at the back with a clean sheet, we have a great chance of winning the game."
That formula has served Lopes and his colleagues well thus far this term and the Hoops sit comfortably atop the table as May looms.
