Shamrock Rovers 2 Cork City 1
Liam Burt opened his Shamrock Rovers account at Tallaght Stadium on Sunday evening as the Hoops shook off their recent European woes to move four points clear at the SSE Airtricity Premier Division summit.
Playing in front of 3,419 spectators – their lowest home attendance of 2023 – Rovers edged in front through Graham Burke in the first half only for City to restore parity courtesy of Barry Coffey’s spectacular set-piece effort. Burt produced a match-winning moment shortly after the restart, however, which ensures that Rovers remain in pole position to claim a fourth successive top-flight crown.
Following their Europa Conference League qualification exit at the hands of Ferencvaros at the same venue on Thursday, Rovers manager Stephen Bradley welcomed Alan Mannus, Dylan Watts, Ronan Finn, Seán Kavanagh and Burt into his starting line-up.
Cork’s current interim head coach Liam Buckley – a former Hoops player and manager – drafted Aaron Bolger and Jaze Kabia into his side from their recent 2-0 league defeat at home to Shelbourne.
The small pocket of travelling City supporters breathed a sigh of relief just shy of the 20-minute mark when Burke’s crisp strike rebounded off the left-hand post before ultimately drifting away to safety.
Remarkably, Rovers had come into this game without a goal from general play in all competitions since Rory Gaffney’s league winner against Derry City on June 26th. However, this unusual anomaly was brought to a halt in the 29th minute as Burke twisted and turned on the edge of the area in advance of firing home off his less favoured right foot.
Although there was an expectation that the Hoops were going to push on from this point, City dramatically got themselves back on level terms 10 minutes from the break. Spotting a path to goal from a free-kick, Coffey unleashed a powerful shot that was convincingly beyond the reach of Mannus.
Eight goals were evenly shared between these teams when they last met at Tallaght back in March and there was just five minutes gone in the second half when Rovers grabbed their winner. On his first start, Burt grabbed his maiden goal for the title holders with an excellent curling finish at the end of a memorable run.
While this left Rovers in a strong position once again, the introduction of Richie Towell and Rory Gaffney as part of a double substitution on 65 minutes was a sign that Bradley was looking for additional breathing space. Burke had his sights set on replicating Coffey’s opening period exploits when he stepped up to a 25 yard free-kick, but Cork goalkeeper Oliver Byrne was equal to his effort.
Towell and Markus Poom also went close inside the final quarter as the hosts continued their quest for a third goal. A cast-iron insurance score may not have arrived for Rovers in the end, but a lack of end product from City’s attack meant they were never in danger of letting the three points slip from their grasp.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus; Cleary, Lopes, Kavanagh; Finn (Nugent, 77), O’Neill, Poom, Burt (Greene, 86 mins); Watts (Towell, 65), Burke; Kenny (Gaffney, 65).
CORK CITY: Byrne; Custovic, Coleman, Honohan, Drinan; Stanulevicius (Worman, 77), Bolger; Bargary, Coffey, Kabia (Fitzpatrick, 72); Owolabi.
Referee: D MacGraith (Mayo).
