Shamrock Rovers 1
Athlone Town 0
A WONDER-STRIKE from Eamon Zayed earned Shamrock Rovers all three points in their clash with Athlone Town in Tallaght tonight.
The win sees Trevor Croly’s men now climb to the summit of the Airtricity League, where they will remain until at least Tuesday when Dundalk face Drogheda United.
The Libyan striker emerged from the substitutes’ bench after an hour, and lit up what had been a rather subdued atmosphere up until that point.
The opening period saw the eventual winners dominate proceedings, but create very little in the way of shots on target.
After 20 minutes, Gary McCabe played a curved pass up the right side into the path of Ciaran Kilduff, and the striker saw his shot deflected wide off Derek Prendergast.
From the resulting corner-kick, Rovers played the ball around before McCabe once again delivered for Kilduff, but this time he headed into the side-netting at the back post.
Kieran Marty-Waters was then denied by Paul Skinner twice in quick succession, with the second shot coming from just a couple of yards out.
Attempts on Barry Murphy’s goal in the opening 45 were very limited, but Barry Clancy did warm the hands of the Hoops net-minder with a low driven free-kick after 39 minutes
That attempt was then followed by a glorious scoring opportunity for Jason McGuinness at the other end. McCabe’s whipped cross from the right was headed on by Ryan Brennan and the defender was caught flat-footed at the back stick with the goal at his mercy.
The second half saw Rovers continue to press, but they struggled to get in behind the Athlone defence.
Indeed, a McCabe effort from distance and a free-kick that crept wide were the only worries for Skinner after an hour.
However, the Athlone ‘keeper could do little about Eamon Zayed’s strike seven minutes later. Ronan Finn found the striker on the right touchline, and from a difficult angle he somehow guided his shot over Skinner and into the far corner.
Kilduff had the chance to make it 2-0 with six minutes left to play, but Stephen Quigley got back on the line to clear the ball as it looked to be trickling in.
And the final play of the game saw Murphy punch Ian Sweeney’s free-kick clear in what was a crowded penalty area to rapturous applause from the home crowd.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Murphy, Byrne, Cornwall, Madden, McGuinness, McPhail, Brennan (Zayed 62), McCabe, Kilduff, Waters (S O’Connor 62), Finn. Substitutes: Hyland, D O’Connor, Sheppard, Bayly, S O’Connor, Kelly, Zayeed.
ATHLONE TOWN: Skinner, Prendergast, Byrne, Dillon, Gorman, S Brennan (McMahon 83), Clancy, Rusk, O’Brien, D Brennan (Marks 71), Quigley (Sweeney 83). Substitutes: McMahon, Hughes, Sweeney, Harney, Sexton, Monaghan, Marks.
