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Football: ROVERS FIND THE GOING TOUGH ; Shamrock Rovers 0 Derry 2 EIRCOM LEAGUE: All Last Night's Action From the Top Division Future Looks Brighter Off the Pitch Than on It for Dubliners

Posted on: Saturday, 16 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

ON the day Shamrock Rovers more or less guaranteed their survival as a club - they did nothing to further their chances of surviving the drop to the First Division.

Outplayed completely after being reduced to 10 men in the 23rd minute, Rovers gave away two goals and three points with Ciaran Martyn and Killian Brennan scoring for Derry.

But now the good news. On Monday the Examiner, Neil Hughes, will go to the High Court and recommend that The 400 Club become the new owners of Shamrock Rovers.

Should the Court accept Hughes's proposal then the club's EUR3million debt will be sorted; Rovers will be run by the club's supporters, and a new dawn can begin.

Already the Revenue Commissioners have agreed to accept that Rovers will not be paying them the full EUR1.5m they were owed, accepting just EUR40,000 instead.

And so Rovers live on. Yet they continue to live dangerously, remaining in the relegation zone after this latest defeat.

They'll know it could have been different for this was a game that changed in the 23rd minute. Until then Rovers were marginally superior, enjoying the edge in possession and posing much more of a threat in the final third.

They had even carved out three good chances for themselves, the first of which fell for Gavin McDonnell, who headed wide from Stephen Gough's corner in the fifth minute.

Then Paddy McCourt engineered an opening with a clever piece of footwork and a shot from the edge of the area that veered narrowly wide.

And after that Jason Gavin, advancing from the halfway line, thumped an effort from 35 yards that forced David Forde to make a fine one-handed save.

Then came the game-changing moment when Will McDonagh, aggrieved that he did not win a free kick after a tough challenge by Eamon Doherty, made physical contact with referee Alan Kelly.

It was hardly life-threatening behaviour but it clearly broke the rules and Kelly had no choice but to send him off.

In doing so, Rovers were left with little option but to change formation. Initially they went 3-4-2 but by half time, boss Roddy Collins decided to play more conservatively with a 4-4-1 format.

By now Derry, after playing dreadfully in the first half, were finally getting their act together. And they had the lead within five minutes of the new half when Martyn, who robbed McCourt of possession inside the Derry half, scored a simply majestic goal.

It began with that tackle, ended with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area that nestled in the top corner of Barry Murphy's net - and in- between there was a 50-yard run.Not bad. Nor were Murphy's subsequent saves in the 55th and 60th minutes from Stephen Gough - his own player - and then from Sean Hargan and Martyn.

Rovers responded by changing their formation yet again but no matter what they tried the game was going against them.

Derry had extra fitness as well as the extra man, and after 81 minutes they sealed the points when Brennan's left-footed shot deflected wickedly off McDonnell and beyond Murphy.

In his programme notes, boss Collins made it clear he would not be resigning his post.

He said: "There has been a lot of speculation about my future at Shamrock Rovers.

"Outside influences are trying to be disruptive by making statements saying that I would be sacked from the club when The 400 Club take over.

"I want to say that this is a million miles away from the truth. I have the job and I intend to stay in it."

Source: Daily Mirror

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