Stat Attack v Bohs

Stats, Stats and more Stats - Rovers v Bohs edition:

Shamrock Rovers have slipped to fourth place in the table after a frustrating game against Shelbourne on Friday. The Hoops led at half-time but ended up having to battle back for a 2-2 draw.

Bohemians are 13 points behind us in seventh, with an extra game played, losing 3-2 to St. Pat’s at Dalymount Park on the same night. 19 year old goalkeeper Greg Murray made his league debut in the game. Bohs have conceded one less goal than Rovers (28).

Rovers have the most home draws with 7 while Bohemians have the fewest away draws, just the one. Bohemians have the joint most away defeats (8) and fewest away goals (10). Rovers are joint second in form (behind UCD), joint 6th in home form. Bohs have the worst form and away form.

Bohemians are six league games without a win, losing four of those. They were the last team to beat Rovers in the Premier Division in June and the champions have won 7 out of 9 in all competitions since the defeat to Ekranas.

But Rovers have drawn 7 of the last 8 home league games and are without a win at Tallaght since the 3-1 win over Drogheda on May 18th. Bohemians have not won away since May 21st, 2-1 against Shelbourne.

Since we last met, Bohemians suffered an embarassing 5-1 defeat to Icelandic second division side Thor Akureyri in the Europa League but qualified for the FAI Cup Quarter-Final. They beat Munster Senior League outfit Avondale United 1-0, despite missing two first half penalties.

They were drawn at home to Dundalk, the team they beat in a replay at the same stage last season. The Gypsies have not failed to reach the last eight of the cup since 2006, when Rovers, in the First Division at the time, eliminated them with a 2-0  victory in a third round replay at Dalymount Park.

Evan McMillan, in his new-found attacking role is their top scorer with 6 goals, 5 in the league and he’s got all of them in the last nine games. Gary Twigg has 18 for Rovers but only 1 in his last 12 appearances in all competitions. Dave Scully has been sent off three times this season.

Bohemians did not make any summer signings and six players have left the club – Philip McCabe, Robbie Gaul (both Dundalk), Pat Seery, Lee Dixon (both Bray Wanderers), Davy Byrne (released) and Neil Harvey (Athlone Town).

Bohemians 2012 Results

Feb 13 – SC – H – Portadown 2-1 (Corcoran, Moore)

Feb 20 – SC – A – Portadown 1-0 (Martin)

Mar 02 – L – A – Derry City 0-1

Mar 05 – SC – A – Crusaders 0-0

Mar 09 – L – H – Shelbourne 0-2

Mar 12 – LSC – A – Shamrock Rovers 1-1 (Seery) AET, lost 5-4 on pens

Mar 16 – L – A – Sligo Rovers 0-1

Mar 20 – SC – H – Crusaders 0-2

Mar 25 – L – H – St. Pat’s Ath 0-0

Mar 30 – L – A – Shamrock Rovers 0-2

Apr 06 – L – H – Cork City 1-0 (Corcoran)

Apr 10 – LC – A – Drogheda Utd 1-1 (McEvoy) AET, lost 4-3 on pens

Apr 13 – L – A – UCD 2-1 (Ward, Corcoran)

Apr 20 – L – H – Monaghan Utd 1-2 (McEvoy)

Apr 27 – L – A – Dundalk 2-0 (McEvoy, McMahon)

May 04 – L – A – Bray Wanderers 1-2 (Corcoran)

May 11 – L – H – Drogheda Utd 1-1 (McEvoy)

May 18 – L – H – Derry City 1-2 (Ward)

May 21 – L – A – Shelbourne 2-1 (McMahon, McEvoy)

May 25 – FAIC – H – Drumkeen Utd 5-0 (Scully 3, Lopes, Mulcahy)

Jun 01 – L – H – Sligo Rovers 0-0

Jun 22 – L – A – St. Pat’s Ath 1-2 (Joyce)

Jun 29 – L – H – Shamrock Rovers 4-0 (McMahon 2, Moore 2)

Jul 05 – EL – H – Thor Akureyri 0-0

Jul 08 – L – A – Cork City 1-1 (Ward pen)

Jul 12 – EL – A – Thor Akureyri 1-5 (Scully)

Jul 15 – L – H – UCD 1-0 (McMillan)

Jul 27 – L – H – Dundalk 2-1 (McMillan 2)

Aug 03 – L – H – Bray Wanderers 0-0

Aug 10 – L – A – Drogheda Utd 0-1

Aug 17 – L – A – Derry City 0-2

Aug 20 – L – H – Shelbourne 2-2 (McMillan, Ward pen)

Aug 24 – FAIC – H – Avondale Utd 1-0 (McMillan)

Sep 03 – L – A – Sligo Rovers 1-3 (Pender)

Sep 07 – L – H – St. Pat’s Ath 2-3 (McMillan, Feely)

Head to Head

Rovers remain unbeaten against Bohemians at Tallaght, a run of 8 games which is the best at home since 14 from November 19, 1982 to March 18, 1990, seven of those at Milltown. The Hoops will be out to avenge that humiliating 4-0 defeat at Dalymount Park on June 29th.

Bohemians scored more goals in this game than they had all season at home. In the first derby since July 2009 that wasn’t live on TV, Peter McMahon and substitute Karl Moore, who had made his debut at Dalymount Park during a brief spell with Rovers last season, got two goals each. Half-time sub Stephen O’Donnell was shown a straight red card.

Rovers had let in four goals to Bohemians only once in the last 35 years, the extraordinary 6-4 defeat Morton Stadium in January 2001. It is the heaviest defeat to Bohs since losing 4-0 at Milltown in the 1977 FAI Cup Second Round Replay, which is still our record Cup defeat.

Rovers had lost by four goals twice in the league before, both 5-1 defeats at Dalymount Park. The first was October 12, 1929. In front of a crowd of 24,000, Bohs were four-nil ahead at half time and Cannon had a penalty saved by O’Reilly, only the second time a spot kick had been saved under the new rule in the League of Ireland.

The amateurs beat did it again on November 20, 1954. With five players in Glasgow for an inter-league game three days earlier, the defending champions looked tired and defended poorly. Goalkeeper Cunningham was to blame for the first two goals and again found themselves four down at the break. Rovers finished 3rd while Bohs came 7th that season.

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LAST FIVE

2011

Aug 05 – L – Bohemians 0-1 Shamrock Rovers (Twigg)

Oct 05 – L – Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Bohemians (Murray)

2012

Mar 12 – LSC R4 – Shamrock Rovers 1-1 Bohemians (Dixon) AET, won 5-4 on pens

Mar 30 – L – Shamrock Rovers 2-0 Bohemians (Twigg, Dennehy)

Jun 29 – L – Bohemians 4-0 Shamrock Rovers

Aaron Callaghan

Callaghan scored in Ireland’s U-17 win over Northern Ireland in November 1983, with UCD manager Martin Russell scoring the other goal. He was in the panel for the European Youth Championship Finals in 1984 as Liam Tuohy’s side made it to the semi-finals in the USSR.

On February 1985, himself and Terry Phelan produced a great performance as Ireland stunned England 1-0 in the opening match of the 1985 World Youth Championships. This was Ireland’s first ever competitive win over them outside schoolboy football.

He was selected for the finals in the Soviet Union but on August 19th, five days before it was scheduled to start, he was recalled by Stoke City as he was needed for first team duty by manager Michael Mills the following Saturday. However, Callaghan didn’t play and would not make a senior appearance for the club until six months later. Arsenal’s Niall Quinn was held back too, as cover for a reserve game.

Callaghan was presented his international caps at a reception hosted by the Educational Building Society in their Dublin head office on July 1, 1986. The defender made two U-21 appearances, playing alonside Dennis Irwin and Pat Dolan in a 0-0 draw in Belgium in September 1986 and in the 2-1 defeat to Scotland at Oriel Park in October 1987.

He scored 10 goals in 233 league appearances in England over a period of ten years. His club career began at Stoke in 1984 who were relegated to Division Two a year later. Callaghan joined Oldham Athletic in 1987 and then Crewe Alexandra of the Fourth Division in 1988. Under Dario Gradi, the club were promoted in the 88/89 season before going back down in 1991.

He spent two years at Preston North End from 1992-94 before signing for Shelbourne. Callaghan played for Crusaders from 1995-99, winning two Irish League titles and making three European appearances. He was player-manager of the club for one year and moved to Liam Buckley’s St. Pat’s for the 1999-00 season.

The Dubliner made just 4 league appearances for the Saints and one of them in a 1-1 draw with Shamrock Rovers at Richmond Park on October 24th, as he struggled to cope with Tony Cousins and Graham Lawlor.

After a loan spell with Glenavon, Callaghan spent two years with Dundalk, becoming the first player in history to score an FAI Cup goal in December. He netted after five minutes in their 1-1 first round meeting with Galway United at Oriel Park on December 13, 2001.

Dundalk, who were relegated that season, went on to win the competition with a 2-1 victory over Stephen Kenny’s Bohemians but Callaghan did not play in the final. He was a coach at Longford Town from 2002-04 and 2004-06 and managed Athlone Town in between, in 2004.

Following a year out from the game, the 45 year old was appointed Longford manager in December 2007. Due to financial constraints at the club he resigned on August 30, 2008 and they ultimately finished 8th.

Callaghan, one of the first coaches in Ireland to obtain the UEFA Pro Licence in 2007, was the 1st team coach at UCD before taking over as manager of Bohemians in time for the 2012 season.

10/20 Games

First ten:

Sligo – 24 points
St. Pat’s – 20 points
Rovers – 16 points
Drogheda – 16 points

Second ten:

Drogheda – 22 points
Sligo – 19 points

Rovers – 17 points
St. Pat’s – 15 points

Final ten so far:
Rovers – 7 points
Sligo – 7 points
St. Pat’s – 7 points
Drogheda – 6 points

Draws, Draws, Draws...

Shamrock Rovers have drawn seven Premier Division games at home this season. Rovers set a club record in 2008, drawing 8 out of 17 league games at Tolka Park, against Cork City, UCD x2, Derry City x2, Drogheda United, Cobh Ramblers, Bray Wanderers. The all-time record is 10, by St. Pat’s in 1996/97 and Bohemians in 1980/81.

Rovers drew four consecutive league games at home for the first time in League of Ireland history and now it has stretched to five. We drew 3 in a row in 1989/90, 1990/91, between 1991/92 and 1992/93, 1992/93, 1997/98, 1998/99 and from 2007 to 2008.

The Hoops drew five home games out of six from January – April 1999. Cork City drew five consecutive home league games in 2003, as did St. Pat’s Athletic in 1996/97. In the First Division, Galway and Dundalk did five in 2003 and 2005 respectively.

Elsewhere, Crystal Palace drew seven successive league games at home in the 1998/99 Football League First Division and League Two side Notts County managed the same run from March to August 2006.

Hoffenheim set a Bundesliga record of 7 last season and Giresunspor in the second tier of Turkish football drew seven in a row in March-November 2011, in which the last four were were all scoreless.

On this date

Rovers beat St. Pat’s 3-1 at Richmond Park on September 10, 2010 but that is the only Premier Division victory – drawing with Limerick in the 2006 First Division, drawing at Bray in 2000, drawing at Dundalk in 1998 and losing 2-0 at home to UCD in 1995.

On Mondays, Rovers have won and lost Leinster Senior Cup ties against Bohemians in the last two seasons and won 1-0 in the league at Tallaght in 2011. Rovers won 2-0 away in September 2007 but lost two Monday meetings in 2003.

Rovers were given two home games with Bohemians when the fixture list was made at the start of a new 33 game season (now 30). Bohemians had the short end of the stick in 2008 too but four of the last five times Rovers have been in the Premier Division, when this structure was in place, Bohs had home advantage at Dalymount Park over three games - 2001/02, 2002/03, 2005 and 2007.

Sligo Rovers 1-1

This was Kerrea Gilbert’s first league start since Dalymount Park in June and Tommy Stewart’s first league start since his return to the club. We are five games without a win against Sligo now, four in the league which is the worst run in 35 years.

Mark Quigley scored his third career goal against Rovers and his first at Tallaght Stadium. He scored once in 10 league appearances for Rovers, the 4-2 win over Longford Town at Dalymount Park on September 30, 2005. The Hoops were 2-1 down with 19 minutes left and scored two goals in three minutes before the 19 year old, on loan from Millwall, clinched it at the end.

Rovers’ last three goals conceded had now come from outside the box. 15 league games unbeaten at home set a new Tallaght record and currently at 16, it’s the best since 20 from March 10, 2006 to March 30, 2007. It’s the longest top flight streak since 24 from October 2, 1983 to February 17, 1985.

Drogheda United 2-0

This was Rovers’ 9th consecutive win over Drogheda. Ciaran Kilduff got the opening goal – his last league goal had also been against the Boynesiders back in October 2011.

Gary Twigg had scored in the last 7 games he had played in against Drogs and this is the very first time he failed to score in a league game at Hunky Dorys Park. Twigg was subbed for the third time in four games. Before then, he had only been replaced once in 23 starts under Stephen Kenny.

He did provide his first assist of the season and it was Gary McCabe’s 7th. As of Friday, Billy Dennehy and Ronan Finn are joint second in assists with five. Chris Turner and Derek Prendergast were both sent off, there had not been a red card for either side in 10 Rovers games in all competitions until then.

This was Rovers’ first win on Setanta Sports in 6 attemps, since the 2-1 win over Dundalk at Oriel Park in September 2011.

Cork City 2-0 (FAI Cup)

Tallaght is the 6th different stadium in which Rovers have hosted Cork in the FAI Cup since 1986. In our third televised game in a row, Rovers got their first win over the Rebels in seven games, a 3-0 win at Tolka Park on August 29, 2008.

Substitute Tommy Stewart scored twice, the first in just 16 seconds. Ciaran Kilduff also came off the bench and scored a brace at the UCD Bowl last season. In the Tallaght era, Kilduff and Dessie Baker have scored the most goals as substitutes with 3 each; Baker scored in two Dundalk games in 2009 and the FAI Cup win over Galway the following year.

All of Kilduff's were against UCD last season, two in the 6-1 victory on June 10th. Padraig Amond, Gary Twigg (both against Drogheda), Daryl Kavanagh (both against Dundalk this season) and Billy Dennehy have all sprung from the bench to score in two different games.

So has Dean Kelly, including the league winning goal at the UCD Bowl and Stephen O'Donnell, including the Belgrade penalty. Sean O’Connor had a unique achievement – a hat-trick of assists by a sub in the 3-1 home win over Bray Wanderers on September 19, 2009.

Rovers were behind at half time and the winger came on in the 54th minute. Stephen Rice headed in his cross a minute later and after a run down the left, he provided another header for Gary Twigg. In the 74th minute, Stephen Bradley found O'Connor at the back post where he headed the ball down for Twigg, who hooked his shot on the turn to beat the keeper.

Cork City 2-1

Rovers secured their fourth consecutive away win and the first win at Turner’s Cross in 14 attempts, since a 2-0 victory on March 13, 2002. Colin Hawkins provided an assist in both Cork games.

Ronan Finn has scored 4 goals against Drogheda, 3 against Sligo and 2 against Shelbourne but his strikes against Derry and Cork were the first of his career. In the 13 games that he has scored in since joining from Sporting Fingal last year, Rovers have won 9 and drawn 4.

The Hoops had won three successive away league games without conceding a goal going into this one. We did 3 with the last game of 1993/94 and the first two of 1994/95, over five months apart but not in one season since this:

1993

Sep 4 – Galway 0-5 Rovers

Sep 15 – St. Pat’s 0-2 Rovers

Sep 19 – Monaghan 0-1 Rovers

St. Pat’s CY 1-0 (Leinster Senior Cup)

In the 110th final, Shamrock Rovers lifted the Leinster Senior Cup trophy for the first time in 15 years. Shane O’Connor made his debut at left-back. CY had three ex-Hoops in the starting line-up, Karl O’Brien, Andy Doolin and Aiden Roche, whose brother Lee was not involved.

Aaron Greene, making his first appearance since July due to injury, scored in the third consecutive round of the competition. Three players started all four games on the road to the final, Greene, Reyaad Pieterse and Jack Memery.

This was our 4th win in a row in all competitions, the best since the six victories at the beginning of 2011. Rovers had now only scored 1 first half goal in the last 9 in all competitions at Tallaght Stadium and none in the league since May.

Shelbourne 2-2

Billy Dennehy’s suspension meant he missed a home league game for the first time since the 3-0 win over Galway United on September 24, 2010, which he was also banned for.

Rovers have gone unbeaten in a season against Shelbourne for the first time since 1992/93. We drew 2-2 at home and 1-1 away back then, beating them 1-0 at Tolka Park in the Leinster Senior Cup as well.

There have been a total of 19 goals in four meetings between the clubs this season with an FAI Cup Quarter-Final tie still to come on Friday.

This was Ronan Finn’s 7th goal of the season and all but one have been hit from outside the penalty area. It was his fifth goal in six league games. Only Gary Twigg, Karl Sheppard and Finn have scored in four consecutive league games in the Tallaght era.

Rovers are currently 9 league games unbeaten , the best since 17 from May-September 2010. We are 12 domestic games unbeaten, the longest run since 16 from May-August 2010. But five home league games without a win is the worst single season streak at Tallaght – it equals the five from 2009-10, which was ended by a 1-0 win over Bohemians.

A few hours earlier, Ireland defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 in Astana in the opening game of their 2014 World Cup Qualfiying campaign. Rovers had also played on the same day as our national team on September 3, 2010, beating Sligo 1-0 at Tallaght as Ireland won 1-0 away to Armenia.

And on May 29, 2004, another Saturday, the Hoops were beaten 1-0 by Longford at Flancare Park, while Ireland lost 3-0 to Nigeria at The Valley in London. A 19 year old Obafemi Martins scored one and created two on his international debut, going on to score for Rubin Kazan against Rovers in the Europa League over seven years later.