David Sneyd reports from Stamford Bridge

Chelsea 5

Shamrock Rovers 1

SHAMROCK ROVERS AT least had their moment to savour and a memory to cherish.

That’s what manager Stephen Bradley wanted, and it is what midfielder Markus Poom delivered with a first-half strike that was ultimately no more than a thrilling consolation.

It was only fleeting, and the night would have felt like a long one once Chelsea took control, but the joy among the 3,000 travelling fans as Poom’s shot from just inside the box deflected off Marc Guiu was infectious, warming the heart and spirit on a bitterly cold night in west London a few days before Christmas.

More importantly for Rovers, this is not the end of their European adventure. They now head into 2025 with a play-off in late February against either Molde or TSC Backa Topola to try and continue this Uefa Conference League odyssey.

Guiu was central to the night, and his first-half hat-trick came in 25 minutes. To sum up the obvious gulf in class, just after Marc Cucurella cut inside to score Chelsea’s fifth goal on 58 minutes, they introduced Portugal international Joao Felix from the bench.

He is a player who has cost more than €180 million in his career. Chelsea is the club of billionaires among the Premier League elite and this was a night when Rovers were their plaything.

Adding to Rovers’ pain were the mistakes and lapses in concentration that proved their undoing.

That’s not to say that Chelsea, who scored 12 goals in their two previous home games and romped to first place in the league phase with six wins from six were undeserving of such a comfortable night.

What’s galling is that Rovers made it just that little bit easier.

First, the till roll rained down from the away end on Christopher Nkunku and then the goals flowed.

There was a delay of a few minutes as the Chelsea forward cleared the reams of paper while he stood over a corner below the Rovers fans.

But the inevitable would come, even if there was that magic moment for Poom to give a little bit of Christmas cheer.

The home side had 87% of the ball in the opening 15 minutes and of course, looked threatening, but it was Rovers who carved open the best chance during that time.

Dylan Watts flashed a cross from the right and Johnny Kenny was unmarked eight yards out. His connection was scuffed and the ball squirmed wide.

It was the first of a few key incidents that Bradley’s side will look back on with regret in that opening 45 minutes.

The first of Guiu’s hat-trick came on 23 minutes when confusion and miscommunication between Darragh Burns and Leon Pohls led to the right wing-back heading the ball away from the hesitant goalkeeper and into the path of the forward to just nod into an empty net.

Rovers were level four minutes later when Watts’ corner fell to Poom and his shot struck Guiu on its way in.

While the celebrations that followed were intense and joyous, there were sour elements from the away end too with one brief IRA chant not catching on among the majority and another apparent homophobic song aimed at the Chelsea fans also being aired.

Uefa will most likely investigate.

As the game wore on and Rovers battled to contain the Premier League giants, there was another head-in-hands moment to break the spirit.

This time Daniel Cleary left a pass back well short from the right and Guiu was again alert to take possession, round Pohls and slide the ball into an empty net.

A third came on 40 minutes when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall followed into the box and strode on to a breaking ball from a superb Pico Lopes tackle that denied Christopher Nkunku.

The Republic of Ireland-qualified midfielder swept the finish home with sweet, left-footed precision.

Chelsea fans stopped singing God Save The King in response to Rovers and now turned to “Are you Tottenham in disguise” as their side began to take the game away.

In the third minute of first-half added time Guiu got in front of Cleary eight yards out to head home Noni Madueke’s inviting inswinging cross from the right.

Rovers’ heads didn’t drop after the re-start and even after Cucurella made it 5-1 before the hour, they stuck to their defensive task diligently.

Lopes, the Cape Verde international, picked up a yellow for a foul on Felix but it was the one blot on an evening when he made one goal-line clearance and his leadership skills shone through.

Naturally, there was a flatness to the final 30 minutes after both sides emptied their benches. Jack Byrne was introduced and teed up Cleary approaching the 90th minute only for his shot to strike Aaron Greene at the back post and ebb away from danger.

Chelsea fans had long started heading for the exits as Rovers supporters raised their green and white scarves to hail their Hoops.

Chelsea: Filip Jorgensen; Josh Acheampong, Axel Disasi (captain) (Harrison Murray-Campbell 60), Renato Veiga, Marc Cucurella; Cesare Casadei, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Samuel Rak-Sakyi 82); Noni Madueke (Harvey Vale HT), Christopher Nkunku, Tyrique George; Marc Guiu (Joao Felix 60).

Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pohls; Daniel Cleary, Roberto Lopes (captain), Lee Grace; Darragh Burns, Gary O’Neill (Darragh Nugent 78), Dylan Watts (Jack Byrne 67), Markus Poom (Danny Mandroiu 67), Josh Honohan; Neil Farrugia (Graham Burke 72); Johnny Kenny (Aaron Greene 72)

Referee: Willy Delajod (Fra)

Uefa Conference League matchday six results on Thursday:

Chelsea (ENG) 5 Shamrock Rovers (IRL) 1 

Real Betis (ESP) 1 HJK Helsinki (FIN) 0

Heidenheim (GER) 1 St Gallen (SUI) 1 

APOEL (CYP) 1 Astana (KAZ) 1 

Vitoria Guimaraes (POR) 1 Fiorentina (ITA) 1 

Lugano (SUI) 2 Pafos (CYP) 2 

Panathinaikos (GRE) 4 Dinamo Minsk (BLR) 0

Borac (BIH) 0 Omonoia (CYP) 0

Celje (SLO) 3 The New Saints (WAL) 2 

LASK (AUT) 1 Vikingur (ISL) 1 

Molde (NOR) 4 Mlada Boleslav (CZE) 3 

Djurgarden (SWE) 3 Legia Warsaw (POL) 1 

Rapid Vienna (AUT) 3 Copenhagen (DEN) 0

Cercle Brugge (BEL) 1 Istanbul Basaksehir (TUR) 1

Hearts (SCO) 2 Petrocub (ROM) 2 

TSC (SRB) 4 Noah (ARM) 3 

Jagiellonia Bialystok (POL) 0 Olimpija Ljubljana (SLO) 0

Larne (NIR) 1 Gent (BEL) 0