Bohemian FC Bray Wanderers Drogheda United Dundalk Shamrock Rovers Sligo Rovers St. Patricks Ath Athlone Town Finn Harps Cork City Derry SD Galway Limerick FC Longford Town Mervue Utd Monaghan United Shelbourne UCD Waterford United Wexford Youths
 
 
 
O'Neill keeps it fresh
Shamrock Rovers manager Michael O'Neill says that fresh legs were the key to the Hoops' 3-1 win over Dundalk on Tuesday night.

A brace from Gary Twigg and a late strike from Dessie Baker saw the Hoops take three points and saw them extend their lead over fifth placed Galway United to eight points.

O'Neill said that he felt the team benefited from the introduction of players who had not featured in recent matches.

“We laboured a bit in the past two home games, and we’d a few tired bodies, maybe, at this stage of the season," he said.

“But we freshened it up a bit and we took a chance to put a few lads in who haven’t played for a while: Shane Robinson [pictured], Ian Bermingham, Corie Treacy.

“We hoped that that would give us a bit of freshness, and maybe we tired a bit in the second half, but the two guys - Twiggy, and Dessie - will get you goals when you need them.

“Dessie did well, comimng on and getting us a goal. And I thought we’d some good performances. I thought Robert Duggan in goal had an excellent game.

“He organised his back four extremely well, and took charge of his box, and we’re pleased with that. I felt that Robert deserved his chance, and I think he did well enough to justify staying in the team.

“I think we needed to freshen things up. I think Saturday’s result came from maybe just too many miles in the legs for some of the players, and that was predominantly why we made the changes.

“We felt that Padraig [Amond] would give us a threat – he’s a different type of striker from Dessie – against their back four, and I felt that Robbo would give us a bit of energy in the middle of the park.

“Those are the reasons for the changes, and it was far from vintage at times, but we probably did enough to win the game.”
 
 
 
 
Website Disclaimer

The information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. The Football Association of Ireland endeavours to keep the information up to date and correct. Fixtures data may change and whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information displayed on this website is correct and up to date, we are not liable for any errors. The Football Association of Ireland takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.