Shamrock Rovers eased to a routine win 5-0 over luckless Bray Wanderers before 1,588 spectators at a sun drenched Tallaght Stadium. The Wanderers night got off to a horrible Graham Burke converted an early penalty inside four minutes. Burke's free-k
Shamrock Rovers eased to a routine win 5-0 over luckless Bray Wanderers before 1,588 spectators at a sun drenched Tallaght Stadium.
The Wanderers night got off to a horrible Graham Burke converted an early penalty inside four minutes. Burke's free-kick, awarded on the Rovers right after a Kevin Lynch foul on Dan Carr, diverted high in the air off the Bray defensive wall. It fell to Brandon Kavanagh, whose fierce shot was handled by Conor Kenna before Dan Carr headed over off the crossbar. Kenna was dismissed and Burke, a week on from scoring against the USA at the Aviva Stadium for Republic of Ireland, struck the spot firmly to the left corner.
Despite a paucity of possession, Bray coped pretty well and there was no further scoring from then to the break. Just six minutes after half-time, Martin Russell's first game in charge since his confirmation as Bray boss, took another turn for the worse, when influential skipper Gary McCabe limped off.
Two minutes later, Burke's right wing corner fell to Greg Bolger who slipped the ball sideways to Sam Bone. The big midfielder didn't hesitate and unleashed a low 20 yarder across Evan Moran and into the bottom corner.
The absolute clincher arrived with a quarter of hour left. Just after Brandon Kavanagh had curled a shot just wide, the young midfielder threaded a pass through for Burke who sidefooted the ball under Moran and into the net.
Pieces de resistance arrived in the shape of a Dan Carr tap-in and a David McAllister screamer as ten-man Bray tired in the last 10 minutes.
