Rovers (0) 0
[]

Tottenham Hotspur (3) 4 
[Pienaar 29' Townsend 38' Defoe 45' Kane 90'] 
             

Hoops Line out
1 Richard Brush
2 Pat Sullivan  
3 Enda Stevens
17 Ken Oman
5 Dan Murray (c)
6 Stephen Rice
21 Ronan Finn
26 Jim Paterson
20 Billy Dennehy
18 Chris Turner  
10 Karl Sheppard

Substitutes

8 Stephen O'Donnell
for Rice ht
11 Ciaran Kilduff
for Sheppard 74'
7 Gary McCabe
9 Gary Twigg
for Finn 57'
19 Gary O'Neill
27 Rohan Ricketts
16 Ryan Thompson


 

The Hoops provided plenty of effort in tonights last UEFA Europa league encounter but eventually succumbed to the quality and fitness of Harry Rednapps side although the visitors failed to qualify for the knock-out stage.

On a cold night in Tallaght the Hoops started well against a Spurs side brimming with quality and Paterson was just caught offside in the third minute as he connected with Rice’s ball in the box. Finn and Sheppard were lively for Rovers but Dos Santos shoed his skill when he almost setup Defoe in the 6th minute.

Karl Sheppard won a free-kick on the right on 11 minutes off Livermore and Billy Dennehy floated a ball into the area where Dan Murray headed across goal and the ball was deflected into the path of Oman but he sent his shot just wide.

Sheppard was causing problems for the Spurs defence and he forced Livermore to head away as Cudicini advanced to gather a through ball. On 21 minutes Dan Murray took the sting out of a shot from Defoe and Brush saved.

Enda Stevens was then called on to defend a cross from Rose at the back post. On 23 minutes Ronan Finn won a corner and Dennehy’s kick saw Captain Murray head the ball across goal but Cudicini advanced to claim the ball.

Rovers were holding their own in the game but were undone by a piece of quality on 29 minutes when Pienaar wrong-footed Stevens and from just inside the area on the right sent a low drive that beat Brush and nestled in the left-hand corner of the net.

Chris Turner almost got Sheppard away in the box a minute later but Livermore was strong to clear the danger. From the resultant corner Dos Santos raced into the Hoops box and his cross was met by Defoe but he couldn’t guide his effort on target.

Richard Brush was called on to tip away a cross from Dos Santos on 33 minutes and three minutes later he save Kranjcar’s low drive from distance. Paterson then shot just over the bar from 25 yards out before the Hoops went further behind.

Andros Townsend, who was a constant threat down the left-hand side for Spurs, found himself in space on the left-hand side of the box and he curled a shot past Brush and into the net.

Spurs finished the ’half well and grabbed a third just before the break when Townsend skipped past the challenge of Ken Oman and beat Sullivan to cross low for Defoe to turn and score from close-range.

The Hoops lifted themselves at the break and came out fighting. On 52 minutes a great ball from Sheppard found Sullivan on the right and he turned into the box but his shot was blocked.

Dennehy then tested Cudicini with a low drive from outside the box and on 55 minutes there was a loud shout for a penalty when Murray’s long ball saw Sheppard bear down on goal and Kaboul seemed to take him down but the Ref. was happy to wave play on.

Pienaar curled a free-lick wide of goal on 57 minutes and in the 61st minute a Paterson cross fell to substitute O’Donnell and his fine low shot from 25 yards curled inches wide of Cudicini’s left-hand post.

On 64 minutes Sandro raced into the Hoops area and his shot beat Brush but then rebounded off the Hoops ’keeper and go narrowly past the post.

Two minutes later a fine move from Rovers saw Paterson and Twigg combine fro Dennehy to cross to the back post but Sheppard couldn’t guide his header on target.

Dan Murray made a fine block to deny Townsend a shot in front of goal but Rovers kept looking for a goal with Dennehy’s low cross well defended and then on 69 minutes a high ball from O’Donnell was touched on by Paterson for Sheppard and he was taken down by Cudicini but the Linesman had flagged for an offside.

On 71 minutes a long clearance from Brush was well taken by Twigg and he found Sheppard in the area and it looked like the Hoops number 10 was taken down as he tried to shoot on goal but the Ref. wasn’t interested.

Chris Turner then burst forward to setup Dennehy to cross and he raced into the area to meet the ball but he headed just wide.

With 10 minutes remaining sub Kane went on a good run but Brush comfortably saved his effort. Kranjcar then went very close with a curling shot from the left-hand side of the box. Substitute Falque then beat Brush with a shot from 25 yards but the ball hit the inside of the post and away to safety.

With three minutes left on the clock James Paterson crossed from the left and the ball was deflected to Pat Sullivan who controlled the ball before unleashing a great shot that was met by a diving save from Cuducini.

Rovers finished the game strongly with Stevens unlucky not to get a shot on goal and then Billy Dennehy shot over the bar when he cut in from the right but the Hoops cruelly conceded a late goal when a cross from Rose was headed down for Kane to score from close range.

The final whistle saw Tallaght Stadium rise to acclaim one of the finest seasons in the history of the Hoops and both Enda Stevens and Michael O’Neill received a rousing send off. Good luck and thanks for all the memories.