Soccer
Hoops eager to widen the gap
By Daire Walsh
CHAMPIONS Shamrock Rovers will have an ideal opportunity to move 12 points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division when they face Dundalk at Oriel Park tomorrow night (kick-off 7.45pm).
With St Patrick’s Athletic not in action this weekend, the Hoops can tighten their hold on the prize by recording a 20th league win for 2021.
Their form in recent weeks has left them within touching distance of back-to-back Premier Division crowns, a feat they last achieved 10 years ago.
Current boss Stephen Bradley made 16 appearances for Rovers during their successful 2010 league campaign and following an initially rocky introduction to managerial life, he is proving to be a major asset off the field of play for the Tallaght men.
Whereas they found themselves playing third fiddle to Dundalk and Cork City for a number of seasons, the Hoops are now very much the team to beat in the League of Ireland.
A major turning point in Bradley’s reign was their FAI Cup final triumph over Dundalk in 2019. That was followed just under 12 months later by an unbeaten march to a top-flight league crown and it now seems like only a matter of when they’ll get their hands on a 19th title.
Nonetheless, even if they are only two points outside the relegation zone, Dundalk continue to be a formidable adversary for their south Dublin rivals. The two sides have already met four times this year with some interesting results.
In the President’s Cup at Tallaght Stadium on March 12, Dundalk secured a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over Rovers. The Hoops may have earned two wins on home soil against the Lilywhites, but the Co Louth outfit had the measure of them when they clashed at Oriel back on May 21.
That match ended a remarkable 33-game unbeaten run in the league for Rovers, with Daniel Kelly netting the crucial goal in a 2-1 success for the hosts for whom Tallaght native Vinny Perth has returned for a second spell at the helm.
His record for the season currently stands 11 wins from 24 games in charge and with Waterford breathing down their necks in the race for survival, he will be hoping to take the scalp of Rovers, with whom he won a First Division title as a player in 2006.