Vikings to show Rovers no mercy
Vikings to show Rovers no mercy
Friday November 25th 2005
Soccer
THE sporting philosopher that is Bobby Gould once said: "The road to ruin is paved with excuses."
Shamrock Rovers, the glamour name of Irish club football, have produced plenty of them this season. Docked points, no money, depleted squad, lost manager - take your pick.
All of these are valid reasons for a slump in fortunes but at Tolka Park tonight (8.05) there will be no room for excuses or sentimentality.
Dublin City don't care that Shamrock Rovers have won the League 15 times of the FAI Cup on 24 occasions - as they showed with their 2-1 first-leg victory on Tuesday night.
The time for excuses has come and gone. The Hoops must produce tonight or the First Division beckons.
Seasoned
But can the 11 players that take the field at Tolka get Rovers out of the dire situation they are in?
Alan O'Neill opted for seasoned pros on Tuesday night, including the likes of that most loyal of clubmen Derek Tracey, whose links with the pre-date the Cup final team of 1991, his big buddy Marc Kenny, Mark Rutherford and the mercurial Tony Sheridan, who are all over 30.
These players have experience and ability, but do they have the legs? If one analyses Rovers' last three outings, the answer would have to be no.
Waterford United looked to be on the rack when Rovers grabbed a precious lead, only for the Hoops to squander it during a flat second half performance and both UCD and Dublin City scored goals in the minutes preceding half-time and full-time.
It could be construed that Rovers were guilty of losing concentration but their definite fallibility in the closing stages of all three games was evident to most and all three sides were good enough to exploit it.
The injury to goalkeeper Barry Murphy is a significant blow, while Willo McDonagh's suspension could prove equally calamitous.
At 22, he has been a powerhouse in midfield and is top scorer at the club, if you discount Pat McCourt who moved to Derry City during the summer transfer window.
In his absence, Tracey will probably revert back to the centre of midfield, which may be a blessing for the Hoops as Tracey looked to be under pressure for pace during every sortie by winger Robbie Collins in the first leg.
Brian Shelly or Cathal Sweetman could be options for the right-back birth as they will have the legs of Collins at least.
In all the hysteria of Rovers' pending demotion it is easy to lose sight of Dublin City's achievement in reaching this stage.
Roddy Collins' cull of the squad when he joined the club is one of the many sub-plots that have surrounded the game.
When Dermot Keely stepped into the void that had been left by the former Bohemians manager's departure to Rovers, he brought back a lot of the players shunned by Collins, including one of the goalscorers on Tuesday, David McGill.
Confidence
City have finished their campaign with confidence and obviously carried that into this tie. Unfortunately, confidence is something that Rovers are lacking in abundance at present and it is difficult to envisage where an improvement is going to come.
The Premier Division isn't quite Valhalla but the Vikings, with the hand of the irrepressible Rocky Seery on the tiller, sense a repeat performance tonight will be enough to see them into it.
Shamrock Rovers v Dublin City, live on Setanta Sports (kick-off 8.05)
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