Rovers looking to tighten their grip on top spot with Dalymount visit
By Daire Walsh
SHAMROCK Rovers will be looking to take another giant step towards securing a third successive SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title when they face arch rivals Bohemians at Dalymount Park tomorrow evening (kick-off 7.45pm).
With just 10 matches left to play in this year’s top-flight campaign, the Hoops find themselves seven points clear of both Derry City and Dundalk – quite a healthy advantage especially given that Stephen Bradley’s men have games in hand on their main rivals.
Second-place Derry have one more fixture played than Rovers (who will face the Candystripes in the FAI Cup quarter-final on the weekend ending September 18), while Dundalk have just eight outings remaining in the 2022 season.
The Rovers squad will be seeking to further underline their credentials in Phibsborough but in a strange twist of fate, it is a former Hoops player and manager who will be at the helm of Bohs tomorrow night.
Along with announcing that they had parted company with Keith Long after just under eight years in charge, Bohemians revealed that Trevor Croly would take over team duties on an interim basis in unison with Derek Pender – who is himself an ex-Hoops star.
Having enjoyed a successful stint at St Patrick’s Athletic, Croly finished his playing days at Rovers in 2004. He went on to manage the club from November 2012 to August 2014, winning the League of Ireland Cup, the Setanta Sports Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup in 2013 alone.
After picking up just one point in their last four games – which leaves them languishing in sixth place in the Premier Division table – the Gypsies board felt a change was needed.
Rovers will be expected to comfortably come through tomorrow’s game as a result, but they will no doubt be wary of facing an opponent with a point to prove.
There is enough quality within the Bohs ranks to suggest they could cause problems for Rovers, who were knocked out of the FAI Cup by the Gypsies in the second round last year.
The match-winner for Bohs on that occasion was none other than Andy Lyons. He is now in the green and white of Rovers and struck a decisive extra-time goal to give the Hoops a 2-1 victory away to Drogheda United at the same phase of this year’s FAI Cup last Sunday.
It has since been announced that the highly-rated Lyons has agreed a deal with English Championship outfit Blackpool, but will remain with Rovers for the rest of the year before making the journey across the water in January 2023.