Hoops finish the season with one more point than last year
IT HAD looked set to be a much tighter race for the top prize, but Shamrock Rovers ultimately secured a third consecutive SSE Airtricity League Premier Division crown with a degree of comfort, reports Daire Walsh.
Following a 2-0 win over UCD at Belfield on Sunday, the Hoops finished with 79 points to their name in the top-flight – one more than they managed in their successful 2022 campaign. This put them 13 points clear of both Derry City and Dundalk in the final standings with the former just edging out the latter on score difference.
After finishing 11 points ahead of arch rivals Bohemians in the Covid-affected 2020 season and 16 in front of St Patrick’s Athletic 12 months later, there can be no denying that Rovers have been the dominant side in the land over the past three years.
Guiding the ship for the Hoops throughout this period has been Jobstown native Stephen Bradley.
A Premier Division winner with Drogheda United in 2007, he went on to lift the trophy as a Rovers player in 2010 before making the transition into management.
Former Cherry Orchard youth star Glenn Cronin has been alongside him in the dugout during this memorable journey.
He also had previous experience of being a top-tier champion as a player, as part of a Bohemians side that earned back-to-back titles in 2008 and 2009.
Although there is a wide representation in the Rovers squad – Gary O’Neill, Lee Grace and Rory Gaffney hail from Kerry, Tipperary and Galway respectively – several local players have put their shoulders to the wheel on the club’s march to a 20th League of Ireland triumph.
In his second spell as a Hoops player, Greene shook the net at Belfield on Sunday to bring the curtain down on another solid campaign in Tallaght for the Kilnamanagh striker.
Drimnagh native Daniel Cleary only joined the Rovers ranks at the end of July, but has made a substantial impact at the heart of their defence.
In addition to scoring on his debut against Crumlin’s Bangor Celtic in the FAI Cup, the former Liverpool Academy prospect found the net four times in the title run-in for his new outfit.
Speaking of Crumlin, their local hero Roberto Lopes also had a huge role to play after starting 2022 in the colours of Cape Verde at the Africa Cup of Nations. He was sidelined with a knee injury for more than two months in the middle of the season, but returned in time to see Rovers over the line in the league and to feature for them in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stages.
Inchicore’s Richie Towell also made his presence felt and now has a brace of league winners’ medals to go with the two he earned under Tallaght man Stephen Kenny during his time at Dundalk.
Bradley continues to give youth its fling despite having so much experience to call upon and Clondalkin teenager Aidomo Emakhu – who is rumoured to be departing for pastures new – featured prominently on all fronts in 2022.