Hoops come from behind to defeat Derry in style
By Daire Walsh
Shamrock Rovers recovered from a slow start at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium last night to eventually secure a 4-2 victory against Derry City in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
Trailing 2-0 to the hosts on the half-hour mark, the Hoops looked set to lose some ground in their quest for a second consecutive top-flight title.
That was until Graham Burke found the net to bring Stephen Bradley’s charges back into contention.
Team captain Ronan Finn subsequently cancelled out Derry’s lead, before Rory Gaffney and Richie Towell (with his first league goal for the club) struck to give Rovers all three points on the road.
This result ensures the Tallaght men remain at the summit of the Premier Division table, ahead of Dublin rivals St Patrick’s Athletic on score difference.
Liam Buckley’s Sligo Rovers will join the Metropolitan duo on 41 points if they get the better of Waterford at the Regional Sports Centre later today.
The Hoops were returning to league action for the first time in a fortnight, following their two-legged UEFA Champions League qualifier with Slovan Bratislava.
While they eventually bowed out to the Slovak champions, their 2-1 success in the Tallaght Stadium last Tuesday would have placed them in high spirits ahead of yesterday’s trip across the border.
Yet it has not always been plain sailing for Rovers on the domestic front in 2021 and Derry broke the deadlock through Ronan Boyce on the stroke of 20 minutes.
Ruaidhri Higgins’ side doubled their advantage with a Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe penalty 10 minutes later to leave the visitors on the brink of a fourth league reversal.
However, Burke’s neat finish halved their deficit in time for the interval and Rovers proceeded to dominate on the resumption.
Former Salford City colleagues Gaffney and Towell were introduced as half-time substitutes and made telling impacts.
After Finn capitalised on superb work from Liam Scales to equalise 10 minutes into the second period, Gaffney squeezed Rovers in front with a finish at an acute angle.
The game was still in the melting pot, but Towell made sure of the three points by firing past Nathan Gartside with 17 minutes remaining on the clock.