Athlone Town 0

Shamrock Rovers 3
Purcell 58' 77' Rowe 66'

St. Mels Park - Friday 28th July 2006 ko 7.45pm

Rovers Line-Out

1 Barry Murphy, 2 Ger O'Brien, 3 Robbie Clarke, 4 Aidan Price , 5 Shane Guthrie, 6 Vinny Perth, 7 Jamie Duffy, 8 Mark O'Brien, 9 Tadhg Purcell, 10 Gerard Rowe, 11 David McGill.

Substitutes : 13 Paul Shields for O'Brien 79', 14 Ian Ryan, 15 Anto Flood for McGill 81', 16 Dave Cassidy for Duffy 74', 17 John McGuinness.

Match Report

Tadhg Purcell's second half brace stole the show in St. Mels Park but great credit must also be given to Ger Rowe who capped a fine debut performance with a goal in a game that swung the Hoops way after the dismissal of Athlone's central defender Hamm in the 20th minute.

A Rowe cross in the 8th minute almost found Purcell in front of goal but at the other end a mix up in the Hoops defence saw Clarke lose possession to Levine and Murphy had to dive to his right to push his effort away. Rovers were finding it difficult to get any pattern in their play but Rowe split the defence in the 20th minute to send fellow debutant McGill away. However Hamm took him down just outside the box and the Ref. produced a straight red card. McGill then forced a save from the Athlone 'keeper with the resultant free-kick. The Hoops struggled again and it was the home side that had the best chance to score when the Athlone number eight out-jumped everyone to head just over the bar from a corner.

Rovers upped the pace of the game in the second half and Purcell hooked the ball just wide under pressure in the 50th minute. Rowe then had a shot saved in the 54th minute before O'Brien found Rowe in the box and his low cross beat the 'keeper but McGill could only direct his effort back to the home 'keeper. The match had at last come to life and from a corner in the 58th minute the ball fell to Purcell and he crashed a fine shot in off the post for the opening goal.

After 65 minutes Duffy sent in a low cross that evaded Purcell but the Hoops won possession back and Purcell drove in a low shot that the 'keeper parried and Rowe followed up to score from close range. The Hoops were well and truly on top now and Rowe tested the 'keeper again before Duffy fired into the side-netting.

The introduction of Flood and Cassidy caused more trouble for the home side and Purcell set up Cassidy whose shot was blocked and O'Brien forced the home 'keeper into a fine save with the rebound. Purcell wasn't finished yet, in the 77th minute he won possession in midfield and ran at the beleaguered Athlone defence before firing an unstoppable shot into the corner of the net.

It was game set and match to Rovers now and Anto Flood almost got himself on the score sheet with a couple of late efforts but the home defence stood firm for the remainder of the game.