Shamrock Rovers 3 Bohemians 0
Lee Grace, Ronan Finn and Neil Farrugia were on target at Tallaght Stadium as champions Shamrock Rovers moved seven points clear at the summit with a convincing victory over arch rivals Bohemians.
Although there was no shortage of endeavour from both teams, clear-cut opportunities were few and far between in the initial stages of this encounter. However, there were strong penalty claims waved away at either end of the pitch, before the deadlock was ultimately broken two minutes before the interval.
Moments after he was denied by the left hand of Bohs netminder James Talbot, Markus Poom turned provider as his pinpoint corner from the right-flank was headed to the net by Grace.
This offered Stephen Bradley’s charges a 1-0 cushion at the break and their advantage was promptly doubled five minutes into the second half when Finn fired clinically into the roof of the net after a Rory Gaffney pass was deflected into his path.
Rovers now found themselves within sight of a 16th league win in 2023 and while the result was never in doubt, Farrugia put the seal on an emphatic performance by the hosts with an outstanding curled finish shortly after his introduction as an 81st-minute substitute.
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Cleary, Lopes, Grace; Finn (Clarke, 70 mins), O’Neill, Poom, Kavanagh (Farrugia, 81 mins); Burke (Nugent, 81 mins), Towell (Watts, 83 mins); Gaffney (Kenny, 70 mins).
Bohemians: Talbot; Buckley, Nowak, Radkowski, Kirk (McManus, 60 mins); Flores, McDonnell; Connolly, Clarke, Grant (Coote, 70 mins); Afolabi.
Referee: R Hennessy (Limerick).