Rovers draw with Hibernians in Malta in Champions League qualifiers
Shamrock Rovers played out a scoreless draw with Maltese outfit Hibernians at Centenary Stadium in Ta’ Qali this evening to progress from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.
3-0 winners at the Tallaght Stadium last Tuesday, the Hoops went about their business in a professional manner to advance into the next phase of the competition.
Whereas Rovers created a host of chances in the opening period of last week’s first leg in Tallaght – and took two of them to bring a commanding lead into the interval – the first half of this game was much more evenly balanced.
Hoops boss Stephen Bradley picked a strong side for this game with team captain Ronan Finn and Andy Lyons offering width in wing-back roles.
Dylan Watts and Aaron Greene provided support in attack for Rory Gaffney, a goal scorer and player of the match on home soil seven days earlier.
Given they had a three-goal advantage coming into this tie, it was understandable that Rovers were adopting a more patient approach.
Hibernians’ Jurgen Degabriele wasn’t far off finding the back of their net in the 44th-minute, but the south Dubliners remained in control at the break nonetheless.
Aside from that, the hosts created very few chances of note and Rovers therefore weren’t forced to overextend themselves from an attacking sense.
Substitute Richie Towell did find the net in the 66th-minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside.
Sean Kavanagh subsequently picked out Gaffney at a left-hand angle and his eventual strike drifted past the far post.
Although veteran netminder Alan Mannus produced a save from a Hibernians pot shot in the closing minutes of the action, Shamrock Rovers were never in danger of losing either on the night or on aggregate over the two legs.