AIRTRICITY LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION Shamrock Rovers 4 Galway City 0:AS PARTIES go, Shamrock Rovers could hardly have planned the bash for their 17th league title win any better.
Last Tuesday’s late winner from Dean Kelly against UCD had already ensured their coronation as champions and, on an occasion when celebration was the order of the day, what better opponents than a Galway United side that had won just once all season, shipping a remarkable 111 goals along the way.
It took 31 minutes for Rovers to reward the confidence of their fans and poke their heads in front. And, when it came, Chris Turner’s opening goal was a thing of beauty.
A half-cleared corner landed at the midfielder’s feet some 20 yards out and one deft chip later, the ball had slipped beyond the outstretched hand of Conor Winn and just beneath the Galway bar.
Rovers then added a second on 37 minutes when Turner raced towards a Billy Dennehy free. Neither he nor Winn managed to make contact, allowing the ball to travel on unhindered and bobble over the line to present Dennehy with something of a gift.
After the restart, and with the result in little doubt, those present pondered the prospect of a polite canter to the finish line, but both sides showed enough urgency to maintain a sense of purpose.
That was all but extinguished, for the away side at least, on 65 minutes when Rory Gartlan received a straight red for a foul on Karl Sheppard in the box, and the Hoops striker planted the resulting penalty into the bottom left corner.
Ronan Finn added a fourth eight minutes from time providing yet more cause for celebration, it being Rovers 100th league goal at their Tallaght home. But as the minutes ticked away the events on the pitch took a back seat to the off-field preparations for the presentation of the league trophy.
Two added minutes delayed the moment but when it came and club captain Dan Murray hoisted the trophy into the west Dublin sky there was a sense that what Rovers have achieved this year may well be repeated in the years to come. The fans sang and the ticker tape fluttered among the stand and, as the players took off for a deserved lap of honour, one wondered how any more of those will be taken here.
Meanwhile, the Galway players trooped off towards a relegation play-off as they try and hang on to Premier Division survival. The contrast between the haves and the have nots was stark indeed.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Thompson; Sullivan, Oman, Murray (Finn, 46 mins), Paterson; Ricketts Rice, 64 mins), McCormack, Turner, Dennehy; Sheppard, Kelly (O'Neill, 61 mins).
GALWAY UNITED: Winn; Gaughan, Yob Son, Sinnott, Gartlan; Ryan, G Kelly (Stephen Walsh, 68), Murphy, Cauldwell (Duggan, 81 mins), Gu Kim; Gilmore (Sibanda, 76 mins).
Referee: A Buttimer(Cork).
