Cobh Ramblers 1
O'Shea 50'
Shamrock Rovers 1
Guthrie 87'

St Colmans Park - Saturday 15th July 2006 ko 7.45pm

Rovers Line-Out

1 Barry Murphy, 2 Ray Kenny, 3 Robbie Clarke, 4 Aidan Price, 5 Shane Guthrie , 6 Vinny Perth, 7 Jamie Duffy, 8 Mark O'Brien , 9 Anto Flood, 10 Philip Sheppard, 11 Dave O'Connor.

Substitutes : 13 Willie Doyle for Sheppard 85', 14 Tadhg Purcell for Flood 71', 15 Ian Ryan, 16 Dave Cassidy for O'Brien 84', 20 John McGuinness.

Match Report to follow

A glorious summer's evening in Cobh saw the Hoops strike late through on-loan defender Shane Guthrie to salvage a point that was deserved mainly due to the first half performance. Playing up the slope in the first half Rovers started fairly well with Sheppard and Flood linking well. A Clarke free-kick in the 13th minute saw a Price header curl just wide. Cobh hit back with a long range effort in the 18th minute. The Hoops first serious chance however came in the 21st minute when Duffy sent Flood through on goal but the 'keeper came out to block his effort.

In the 26th minute Price headed on a free-kick to Sheppard but he volleyed wide under pressure. O'Shea then headed wide for Cobh when he found himself unmarked in the box. On the half-hour Sheppard found Duffy and he crossed low to Flood but again the 'keeper blocked his effort, the ball fell to Sheppard but he couldn't force the ball into the net through a number of defenders. Sheppard again found Duffy in the 37th minute but the Hoops number nine scooped his shot over the bar. The impressive O'Connor burst into the box in the 40th minute but his shot hit the side-netting.

Having failed to put away their first half chances the Hoops went behind in the 50th minute when O'Shea made space for himself in the box and fired a low shot past Murphy. Rovers hit back in the 61st minute when O'Connor crossed but Flood's header went just wide. Sheppard then found Duffy who turned and shot but his effort was blocked.

Rovers lost their way a little and Aiden Price was called on to make a number of outstanding tackles to deny Ramblers a second goal. Dave Cassidy made an impact when he came on in the 84th minute and it was his deep free-kick that found Guthrie at the back post and his looping header gave the 'keeper no chance. Rovers almost won the game in the dying minutes when another Cassidy free-kick fell to Perth but his 20 yard shot went just over the bar.