On a lovely bright evening ideal for football, the attendance of 2,560 were treated to a thriller as Shamrock Rovers lost further ground on league leaders Dundalk. Two quickfire Hoops second half strikes were cancelled out by an industrious Derry Ci
On a lovely bright evening ideal for football, the attendance of 2,560 were treated to a thriller as Shamrock Rovers lost further ground on league leaders Dundalk.
Two quickfire Hoops second half strikes were cancelled out by an industrious Derry City City side in a 2-2 draw at the Tallaght Stadium.
Rovers twice benefited from clever application of the advantage rule by referee Derek Tomney. First Aaron Greene broke free from a would-be foul on the Rovers right wing. His precision cross found marauding left back Trevor Clarke who smashed a terrific cross shot past Peter Cherrie. That was in the 51st minute and just four minutes later, Jack Byrne shrugged off a shirt tug and unleashed a superb low shot from distance that nestled in the bottom corner.
The Candystripes hit back almost immediately. Skipper Barry McNamee found Ciaran Coll with a pinpoint 58th minutes cross and the left back’s deft 12 yard header gave Alan Mannus no chance in the Rovers goal. Coll might have grabbed his second and levelled matters in the 66th minute. Neat passing by the Derry midfield freed Coll for a first time shot from the left . However, he could only find the side netting.
McNamee himself might have opened the scoring early on. Junior Ogedi-Uziokwe sent in a deep cross from the right and the Derry skipper’s stooping header just cleared the crossbar.
The equalizer did arrive with just six minutes remaining. A deep cross from the right found Greg Sloggett whose powerful header was parried by Mannus, Junior Ogedi-Uziokwe reacted quickest to force the rebound over the line.
Rovers dominated the first half possession but failed to find a breakthrough in the opening 45 minutes.and will rue their failure to kill the game off as Byrne, Carr and Clarke failed to convert chances.
