Kildare County 1
Gorman 44'
Shamrock Rovers 1
Guthrie 62'

Station Road - Saturday 12th August 2006 ko 7.30pm

Rovers Line-Out

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

Substitutes : 13 Paul Shields for Breen 52', 14 Ian Ryan, 15 Andy Myler for Cassidy 58', 16 Chris Breen for McGill 6', 17 John McGuinness.

Match Report

Shane Guthrie once again rescued a point for the Hoops in an overall disappointing performance on a grey and cool evening in Newbridge. Rovers started brigthly with McGills through ball finally finding Cassidy but he shot straight at the 'keeper. Gorman almost scored for Kildare in the 4th minute when he met a kick out in the Hoops box but directed his header just wide. David McGill then limped off in the 6th minute to allow on-loan Breen into the action. Mark O'Brien stretched to win a ball in the 14th minute and following a cleared cross Cassidy forced the home 'keeper to push away a low shot. The home side then had a shot from outside the box go just inches wide. It was the 29th minute before Rovers next effort on goal with Purcell shooting on the turn from long range and forcing the 'keeper to scramble the ball away.

The best move of the 'half from Rovers came in the 34th minute when Ger O'Brien pushed forward but unfortunately his cross went behind Rowe and Purcell. The home side took the lead in the 44th minute when Gorman was first to a cross and his glancing header beat Murphy.

Rovers almost hit back after the break when Purcell latched on to a ball from Rowe but his first time effort went just over. The Hoops were pushing players forward and they got their reward when O'Brien ran into the box in the 62nd minute and although the ball ran away from him Guthrie was on hand to shoot into the corner of the net. Just five minutes later a fine cross from Shields found Purcell in the box but his header was straight at the 'keeper.

Gorman always looked dangerous at the other end and his deflected shot went just over in the 69th minute. Byrne was shown a second yellow in the 70th minute that reduced the home side to ten men. Ger O'Brien then sent in a low cross but sub Myler couldn't connect properly. A Rowe flick on found Purcell in the box but once again the 'keeper was well placed to save.

Rovers pushed on looking for the winner and a neat one-two saw Purcell set up Myler from a tight angle but the shot was miss-hit. In the 80th minute a Rowe free-kick found Price at the back post but the Hoops captain headed over the bar. Price won another header from a corner four minutes later but again the Kildare defence held firm. Ian Maher, who played for Rovers up to July, almost stole the points for Kildare in the 87th minute but he just failed to direct his header on target.

The last action of the game came in the 90th minute when Vinny Perth was shown a straight Red card after an altercaton with the Kildare bench when he tried to retrieve the ball for a throw-in.