Defensive frailties prove costly again for Shamrock Rovers

Shamrock Rovers 0 Flora Tallinn 1 (Flora win 5-2 on aggregate)

The curse of live TV strikes again. Shamrock Rovers produced their worst display of the season, albeit against the strongest opponents, as a goal from Rauno Sappinen sucked the atmosphere out of Tallaght Stadium.

Trailing 4-2 from an inept showing in Tallinn last week, Rovers were caught cold in the 57th minute when 37-year-old Konstantin Vassiljev used all his guile to put Sappinen clear in the box.

The shot was weak but Alan Mannus let it slide under his torso. The Northern Ireland international made some inspirational saves during this European run but his error killed the tie.

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“Alan saves that nine times out of ten,” said Rovers manager Stephen Bradley, “but it probably summed up to the two legs.”

Flora are designed to trap possession-based teams. It is how manager Jürgen Henn sets them up to succeed on their first journey into the group stages of any European competition.

Much like the first leg, the all-Estonian side moved in unison to punish Rovers for building from the back.

Again, they targeted Joey O’Brien – a strange but effective tactic – into error on the ball. The former Republic of Ireland full back embraced the attention and effectively shifted across the back three when Sean Hoare was forced off on the half hour, but there was a sneaking suspicion that the last Irish club in Europe would be exposed on the break.

In that sense, the game became a race against time to score a first half goal that would bring the 3,500 crowd to life.

It never came. Not for a lack of effort, with Dylan Watts and Ronan Finn spinning some delicious balls into the Flora area.

Aaron Greene had the best chance of the opening stanza, flashing one shot wide and making a poor connection with another. Each miss encouraged Flora to maintain their intensity. They were chasing a little piece of history, and this was apparent in Vassijev’s lung-bursting late runs.

Many lessons

There are many lessons here for Shamrock Rovers to understand how they can co-exist with Slovakian and Estonian champions. They will have plenty of opportunities in the coming seasons as the Europa Conference League has been created to give leading clubs from small football nations a chance to evolve, while enjoying a bigger slice of Uefa’s limitless pie.

By falling at the last hurdle before the group stages, where €500,000 is on offer for every victory, Rovers will count the cost of a failed campaign. An equally educational campaign, but full of regrets because they looked a match for the two clubs that beat them, first Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League qualifier and now this flat performance, made all the more painful by the increased attendance.

Other opportunities came and went, with Finn, Burke and Richie Towell forcing decent saves from Matvei Igonen while Graham Burke and Danny Mandroiu showed glimpses of their technical ability.

That might be how these Europa days will be remembered – too few snapshots of what Rovers are capable of becoming.

Half the Flora team must instantly refocus on a World Cup qualifier against Belgium while Rovers need to turn the page before Sunday’s Dublin derby against Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

Different directions on the football ladder but equally important.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus; O'Brien, Lopes, Hoare (Gannon 32); Finn, Watts (Gaffney 61), Mandroiu (Towell 58), O'Neill, Scales; Burke, Greene.

FLORA TALLINN: Igonen; Lilander, Seppik, Kuuk, Kallaste (Lukka 82); Soomets, Vassijev, Miller; Zenjov, Sappinen (Reinkort 87), Ojamaa (Alliku 74).

Referee: Tamás Bognár (Hungary)