Tougher tests lie ahead for Rovers

So the Hoops leave Tolka Park and immediately shoot straight to the top of the table. There'll be a few of the club's long suffering fans rubbing their eyes as they read the paper this morning.

However, the two wins that have sent them soaring in the table shouldn't leave anybody believing that this new improved Rovers is anything like the finished article.

At Morton Stadium yesterday there were hints of where Damien Richardson is bringing the playing side of things and signs that he is moving in the right direction but three soft goals against a Finn Harps side suffering an acutely embarrassing start to the new campaign gives little indication of how this group of players will cope with the tougher tests to come.

To be fair Richardson was scarcely making any extravagant claims for them yesterday. "Novices" is how he described his squad when pushed on whether they could be title contenders.

He did, however, pay tribute to the way the club's established players had adapted to the changes in training and approach that he has introduced since arriving during the summer. There were kind words too for young Shane Robinson, the right sided midfielder who needed very little said about him at all having done most of the required talking out on the pitch over the course of the game.

Robinson came from Waterford Bohemians over the summer and his departure from the city should have the management team down at the Regional Sports Centre launching an inquiry as to how such promise, sitting on the club's doorstep, could be allowed to spirited away to Dublin during the off season.

Throughout yesterday's game the teenager was one of the most positive factors in what, at times, an almost amusingly poor game. The scale of the defensive errors at both ends, but especially at Finn Harps's during the first period, provided the better part of the entertainment for the 1,200 or so spectators but Robinson's willingness to travel in order to pick up possession, to take on players when he had it as well as his knack for squeezing in decent crosses from some fairly tight angles marked him out as one to watch for the future.

For all his impact on the game, however, Robinson had precious little to do with any of the goals. Rovers should have been well in front by the time they finally found the net and if Tony Cousins appeared to be struggling to put away the chances that came his way through the opening stages, he was given a lesson in the art of finishing midway through the half when Jason Lydiate volleyed into his own net from 25 yards. After all their possession Rovers or their fans weren't complaining, while the rest of us could only sit and marvel at the quality of the strike.

Fergal Harkin equalised just before the break with a fairly decent strike of his own from the edge of the area but even what must have been one of the truly great half time roastings failed to sort out the shortcoming of the play behind him and when matters were made worse by Mark Hutchinson's sending off for a dreadful challenge on Robinson it was fairly obvious that the restoration of the home side's lead couldn't be too far off.

While it wasn't quite the masterpiece of Lydiate's opener the goal, when it came with just over an hour gone had a hint of comedy about it too. Marc Kenny sent in an awful corner from the right and after one defender and one rather surprised striker had missed their chances to make contact it ran to Cousins for whom such gifts can surely not come often enough.

The goal that killed the game off with 10 minutes remaining was more straightforward but between Matt Britton's throw on the right, Cousins's flick on at the near post and Derek Tracey's poke home from a few yards out there were plenty of opportunities for a decisive intervention by Finn Harps.

"It wasn't one of out better defensive performances," said Charlie McGeever with a little bit of understatement "but we're fortunate to have a quick break from the league next week during which we can look to put things right."

Despite the sterner tests ahead for Rovers don't be surprised if people you'd forgotten ever supported the club are wearing particularly smug grins over the next week or two.

Shamrock Rovers: O'Dowd; Britton, Jackson, Palmer, Dunne; Robinson, Colwell, Tracey, Woods; Francis, Cousins. Subs: Kenny for Colwell (41 mins), Byrne for Robinson (85 mins).

Finn Harps: McKenna; Vaudequin, Boyle, Dykes, Hutchinson; Kenny, Lydiate, Harkin, Mohan; Speak, McHugh. Subs: Minnock for Mohan (43 mins), McGrenaghan for Lydiate (72 mins), Mulligan for Vaudequin (82 mins).

Referee: J Stacey (Athlone).