Rovers and Dundalk have room to improve after drab draw

Shamrock Rovers 0 Dundalk 0

Greg Bolger put his new club’s defeat by Bohemians last week down to “10 minutes of madness,” the other day and despite the definite improvement in the scoreline there were also signs of the Dublin club’s continuing eccentricity at the back as Dundalk came calling for the first time this season.

The visitors couldn’t capitalise, though, and for the second week in succession failed to find the net. Perhaps the managers will see home games against Bray and Limerick early next week as opportunities for things to click but neither can be thrilled by the ground they have lost on Cork City already.

The scale of the changes made in close season and the absences due to injuries and one suspension – there were just nine surviving starters from the Cup semi-final replay that Dundalk won here in October – clearly played a part in what was a disjointed contest but both teams will surely need to better than this over the coming months if City are not to spend the tail-end of the campaign stumbling, unchallenged to another title.

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Their managers would be aiming higher than the respective performances here regardless, though. Stephen Kenny certainly talks about the sort of possession football he wants to see his players produce and Stephen Bradley gives the clear impression of aiming to meet the standards set by Dundalk a couple of season ago but here neither looked up to all that much even if there were more than enough chances to make the spectacle worth the biting cold for the crowd of just over 4,000.

Technically, the closest anyone had come to scoring through the opening 45 minutes was when Brandon Miele clattered the right hand post from 25 metres but the visitors could easily have had a couple if they had just been a little more ruthless around the Rovers area. Pat Hoban and Robbie Benson were the guiltiest of five Dundalk players as an angled Michael Duffy cross was allowed bobble across the face of the goal and just wide while Dan Clearly fired wildly over from almost no range at all after Kevin Horgan had presented the ball to the defender with a weak attempt at a punch.

There might also have been a comedy own goal when Ally Gilchrist knocked the ball well behind Horgan after failing to realise the goalkeeper was standing right behind him out towards the edge of the area. Rovers had quite a few problems last season but conceding close to as many goals as the top two combined was right up there and on the strength of this there is still a lot of work to be done to address the situation.

The most glaring issue for Dundalk just now is at the other end. After they had drawn a blank against Bray last week with Ronan Murray up front, the Mayoman slipped into the space here behind Hoban. Murray looked lively enough but still departed early; Hoban missed the target when sent clear early in the second half and followed soon after.

In their places came Ryan Connolly, who might perhaps have turned Hoban’s shot in and Marco Tagbajumi, who battled hard, won more than his share of 50-50 balls and almost sent Duffy clear at one point with what was very nearly a very fine through ball. He certainly showed enough here to suggest he might make a mark here if he sticks around long enough while Krisztian Adorjan made less of an impact after coming on with just over a quarter of an hour to play.

Dundalk looked to have the more urgency about them through those closing exchanges and there were a couple of half chances that, really, somebody should have made more of. Bolger was another one of the newcomers to make a positive impression, though, and most of their build up play was disrupted too far out to pose any real threat. A portion of the home support, in any case, seemed happy to start drifting away before the end. Rovers have improving to do if that’s not to be the wider pattern for the season.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Horgan; Boyle, Grace, Gilchrist, Byrne; McAllister, Bolger; Coustrain (Kavanagh, 80 mins), Burke, Miele; Shaw (Carr, 70 mins).

DUNDALK: Rogers; Gannon, Cleary, Folan, Massey; Shields, Benson; McGrath (Adorjan, 73 mins), Murray (Connolly, 56 mins), Duffy; Hoban (Tagbajumi, 62 mins).

Referee: N Doyle (Dublin).