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Gaffney with the goal to seal it; Hibs will be delighted with that.
You can only beat what's in front of you and Rovers deserve their margin of victory overall (red card aside) but I think the second half performance has been a little bit concerning in terms of upping the level for future rounds.
But positives outweigh that for now - a comfortable win, a dead second leg, and three chances at a group spot
It wouldn't be a LOI victory in Europe without some madness and nearly shooting themselves in the foot, but Rovers managed to get there in the end. Fair play.
Comfortable winners. Unless they implode that's one side throug for the coefficinet anyway.
Linfield may have been surprised to lose to TNS tonight (?), but the Welsh champions are no mugs.
Hibs might be quite happy with Irish refs in the end, or Danish ones added to the hit list. Gaffney very lucky and getting away with the card, Hibs hitting the woodwork and that one on one miss Rovers were a bit lucky too. Would have been a disaster to allow Hibs back in to the game considering how poor they were really and not what Rovers would have deserved. Usually LoI are on the wrong side of these things. The 3rd goal was crucial even if its just to have breathing room in the heat. European football can be about survival early on to adapt to the differences from the domestic game, pressures as a seeded side, so the more rounds ye get through and play in to better performances and ability to cope. Even just having more guile against experienced practitioners of the dark arts. The tie should be over but I doubt Rovers will call it tough there's some pressure off now nd a play-off round should be the worst case.
Chuffed with that and hopefully have jack and Burke back for the bench next week and come on if needed.
Gaffney has been superb lately I think that's 3 if not 4 man of the matches in a row. Could have been 5 nil or 3 to 2 if our luck was out. Phew
Attendance was 7,019 (which included me). Most enjoyable evening.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
Some random stats -
Strangely, if Rovers win out in Malta, it'd be the first time in six attempts that an LoI side has won both legs against a Maltese side in Europe.
Pat's are the only LoI side to win in Malta, having drawn the home leg. The six ties have involved six different LoI teams, but Hibernians have been the opponents four times and have won one leg 1-0 every time so far.
If they finish the tie now it’ll only be the second Champions league/European cup tie Rovers have won,was suprised by that stat….Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
would there be any prospect of Gaffney getting a ban? He's haunted with luck if he's got away with that and stayed on the field to get the goal
I've never seen such a dominant display from a LOI club in Europe as I did from Rovers in that first half, but it was a different story after the break when Hibs replaced a child who couldn't trap the ball with Jonah Lomu from 1995. Had it gone to 2-1 you'd never know what momentum might have done, particularly if Gaffney had walked.
I'd put a line through Gaffney for MOTM despite his performance in other respects. Thought McCann was excellent.
If he hadn't been booked I think he could have got a ban but the ref took action and saw it only as a booking. I'm assuming he saw it as I don't know what he booked him for otherwise
Not seeing a player regularly can have ye missing the progress a players is making. Gaffney gave Boyle a torrid time in Oriel. Last night he was mobile and pulling the defence about, used his physicality well. He seems to be more composed now and can pick the right ball to give, and in to space to receive. He has to be a key man for the remainder of the season with what he offers now and not just goals. The Hat stand may end up on the transfer list!
Hibs got their tactics wrong in the 1st half, their changes had them in with a shout of keeping the tie alive and should have started the game in the manner they did in spells of the 2nd half. Im not sure it was the most sensible thing for Gaffney to admit to catching the player, not meaning to connect with the kick. I thought cards could be reviewed of if there is mention of the kick in more detail in the refs an assessors reports that it could be flagged up, and he is on record, Hopefully the officials just dont see the need to bother.
Quite typical of Rovers in a way. Frequently vulnerable on the counter after dominating possession. Even on Friday Harps had a great chance at 0-0 having seen none of the ball until then. I think it's a weakness better teams can exploit. Let Rovers have the ball because we don't always have the penetration needed to make possession count, and hit at speed on the break. The longer we have the ball the higher our defensive line becomes and we give up chances. Dundalk did this well at Oriel in the last quarter of the game. Derry's winner early in the season (albeit from an error) exposed the high line late on. Bohs threatened this way in the first half recently.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Gaffney is almost unplayable at the moment. His legs are telescopic. How he retains the ball at times defies physics. He's reminds me of something of a cross between Peter Crouch and Christophe Dugarry. His mini-dummy to commit the keeper before rolling the ball into the net was glorious.
Been saying it for ages, Gaffney is the best player in the League this season, unplayable is the word. He was pretty good last year too.
It will be a much tighter game next week and the heat will be a factor as still close to 30c at KO. They’ve played away games before when it is very warm and seem to cope fine. Cyprus and Albania are recent examples. I’d be very surprised if Rovers don’t score as well. Looking good for the next round.
They played in 30+ degrees in Luxembourg in 2015 as well - drew 0-0 out there and won 3-0 at home; fairly handy overall.
There's no need to exert themselves out there which is great, so 0-0 is quite possible.
That said, unless Hibs improve a bit, it's hard to see Rovers not creating chances.
This is true i cant see us not scoring at some stage (famous last words) but we really should be planning for the next round now.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Will be interesting to see if JAck and or Burke even make the bench next week.
Bizarre game last night, if I'm honest. I've seen a fair few Rovers games in Europe at this stage (all the way back to Honved and Lajos Detari in 1985) and can't recall a worse oppostion. Tueta last year were muck as well i suppose.
Rovers "glamour" players were absent and it was left to the hard-working, honest players to pick up the slack. Gaffney looks like a complete donkey at first but the ball sticks to him like glue(answers on a postcard). He had a super game, and managed to overcome that dreadful individual who deigned to hit his head against Rorys boot😉.
They brought on an extra from an avengers movie at half time, who proceeded to clatter the post, and then stomp around to no good effect.
Just bizarre.
Don't think it's tempting fate to be looking at flights to Razgrad in Bulgaria in a few weeks, and next weeks quick trip to sunny malta should be pleasant. The rigours of being a LOI fan eh.
Anyone know if the Derry game is available on line for tomorrow night?
It's on loitvQuote:
Originally Posted by pateen
They definitely nearly shot themselves in the foot twice!! A couple of warning shots to be professional and seal the deal in the second leg.Quote:
Originally Posted by Philosophizer
Sligos home game on LOITV aswell….Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
As is the away game.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
Out of curiosity. What is the biggest first leg lead thrown away by a LOI side. I remember Longford being 2-0 up against a Welsh side and losing was it 5-1 in the away leg.
Here's some salt for that wound.Quote:
Originally Posted by ger121
Need two tvs nowQuote:
Originally Posted by joey B
Had to watch that on plus 1 and missed the first 20 mins. The second half they got exposed pretty easily. Worrying for them against any other opposition in Europe. Playing a high line is all well and good but if your defenders can't defend against the counter then you're in big trouble.
I realised last night what club I was thinking of when watching Ireland play the ball around the houses without any incision, ending up getting beaten and the answer came back to me. Rovers last year against florinn(flora Tallinn)was exactly the performances I was thinking of.
Good to see you arrive for your annual sojourn into all things LoI Paul. Now it's a League of Ireland in Europe thread!
They were worse than I'd hoped and we made them look it. When I heard "new signings" I thought it could go either way but they looked makeshift and we pulled them all over the place. Not too surprised they had a few chances as we pushed up to kill it off but worrying how easy the 1 v 1 came about with a simple turn and pass over the top. The other two I wouldn't be as concerned with. We could've had a few more ourselves. Better sides will see opportunities but hopefully with Byrne and Burke back we will put a few more away. Gaffney was brilliant and is getting all the plaudits but Watts, Finn, O'Neill and McCann were fantastic as well albeit against a team I wouldn't fancy to win the First Division here.
Won't be too shocked if they score over there but I think we can score a few without needing to push up as much.
Yeah, that's the only time a two-goal lead has been lost I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by ger121
LoI sides have been knocked out after winning one game 26 times. On 12 of those occasions the LoI side had won the first leg, and then lost the second leg. But every time - apart from Longford v Carmarthen - the lead had only been one goal. And on every occasion, the first leg had been at home.
We've turned around first leg deficits just 9 times, and each time the margin was one goal. Before Dundalk v BATE in 2016, the last side to do this was Shels v Hajduk Split in 2004.
Thanks for bringing that up lads ffs.
Camarthen Town was a bit special after the 1st leg, Matthews wasnt a chap for European games though. There is some company with Bohs who were well beaten (TNS) and Shels (Hibs Malta), the main reason I remember that Shels result is that the transfer fee for David Crawley from Dundalk to Shels was the cost of renting Tolka the year previous against Varteks, and that he was the cause of the away goal that put the Maltese through.Quote:
Originally Posted by Longfordian
Its no consolation but losing to Ashtown Villa in the FAI Cup years ago still stings, so we all have those cringe moments!!
https://twitter.com/ryanmcdyer/statu...53938355961857
Handy graph.......
There was some suggestion that certain players were trying to lose the game but still go through. Motivated by, depending on who you talked to, a desire to embarrass Mathews who they were fighting with or make money in the bookies. Then it got out of hand and they panicked resulting in giving away stupid goals. Could have been just talk but at 1-1 at half time and looking comfortable nobody could see the second half coming. An awful night that set us back years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nesta99
Was in Bala a few years ago at a game and had Town flag with me, this lad came over as soon as he saw it, turned out to be the Carmarthen manager from that tie. Lovely man, said it remains the best moment of his career. Couldn't bring myself to tell him it may have been fishy hahaQuote:
Originally Posted by Longfordian
There will always be chatter about the slightly unexpected results - Welsh, Lichtenstein opposition was always bound to have people call foul. Dunno though as there were players in the Welsh tie that I would never have considered as fixers or not report suspicion. Sligo ... we shall see.Quote:
Originally Posted by Longfordian
I thought this list of attendances from the UCLQ1 was interesting. It's an imperfect metric but is definitely an indicator of where SR stand in terms of the size of the (home) clubs competing this round.
Really looking forward to the ECL games later. The results from this tonight will go a long way to determining or co-efficient ranking for the year. ECLQ1 only contains teams from countries ranked 30th and below. So the vast majority of ties are winnable. From 32-43 (LOI is currently 42) in the co-efficient table is incredibly close. All these leagues will be picking up points by playing in this round. Latvia are 4 places ahead of us so if Derry could do a number on them we'd be well on our way to over taking them.Quote:
First legs attendances
Lech - Qarabağ 25,118
Malmö - Víkingur Reykjavík 11,830
Slovan Bratislava - Dinamo Batumi 10,589
Tobol - Ferencváros 8,420
Pyunik - CFR Cluj 8,000
Shamrock Rovers - Hibernians 7,019
Maribor - Shakhtyor 6,450
Zrinjski - Sheriff 5,400
Bodø/Glimt - KÍ 4,227
Ballkani - Žalgiris 4,000
Ludogorets - Sutjeska 3,963
HJK - RFS 3,874
Shkupi - Lincoln Red Imps 2,500
Diddeleng - Tirana 1,555
TNS - Linfield 1,034
Crusaders losing at halftime against Bruno's Magpies
That's quite funny :)
7000 there in the end then pateen. What was Corks last attendance in Europe do you know?Quote:
Originally Posted by pateen
2-0 to the pub team now.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Mad stuff
Seriously impressive to have a higher attendance than clubs from Bulgaria, Slovenia and Norway, not bad at all.
It's far too close for comfort with just how close we are to losing a place in the Europe Conference League, scary stuff!
If Shamrock rovers advance who will their possible opponents be in the next round ?
Ludogorets more than likely,2 up from their first leg….Quote:
Originally Posted by Abbeyman