For a second-straight Thursday, he led Shamrock Rovers to a comeback win in the Europa League, this time against Apollon Limassol of Cyprus.
The ebb and flow of this game was controlled largely by Byrne, and while Rovers fell behind to a volleyed howitzer in the fifth minute, his inch-perfect deliveries allowed defenders Lee Grace and Roberto Lopes nod the game over on its head.
They take a lead into next week’s second leg, and the prize for keeping hold of it is a third qualifying round tie with Austria Vienna.
This Apollon side are of considerable pedigree. They knocked Basel out on their way to the group stages last season, where they then went and beat Marseille and finished behind Lazio and eventual semi-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt.
Plus, their badge pays homage to the Greek God Apollo – he who diverted the arrow into Achilles’ Heel at Troy – so they’ve had a few notions along the way.
Rovers, however, paid no deference.
Byrne’s razor guile made the difference, but he was supported by the unrelenting zeal of Ronan Finn, the tenacity of Aaron McEneff and Greg Bolger’s utterly fabulous snarl.
The game kicked off at 8pm; it had exploded by 8.01.
Apollon threatened twice within the first minute, with captain Fotis Papoulis angling an overhead kick crookedly into the South Stand.
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Four minutes later he had found his angle. Greg Bolger swiped at a clearance on the edge of the box, which Joey O’Brien met with a header that went only as far as Papoulis. He let the ball bounce off his chest before slicing a gorgeous, rising volley into the top corner of Mannus’ net.
Rovers responded immediately through a series of Byrne set-pieces, all of them causing alarm. By the fourteenth minute one of them had a tangible reward. Having seen his free-kick skim off an Apollon defender and bounce behind the goal, Byrne’s subsequent outswinging corner was met by Lee Grace, who angled a header in via the right-hand post.
Dan Carr ran at the goal-line to ensure the ball crossed it, and although the goal was Grace’s he played a significant role in its creation. The move began with a Byrne free-kick which he won, having been hauled down by Hector Yuste while chasing a ball behind the Apollon defence.
Carr was included from the start tonight having helped create both goals against SK Brann last week from the bench, and here he offered Rovers a threat in behind they lacked when starting with Graham Cummins last week.
Whereas Cummins was slow and cumbrous last week, Carr was lithe and spry; offering a threat in behind while also canny enough when dropping off to buy a couple of cheap free kicks with his back to goal.
Apollon’s threat for the first quarter of the game was almost exclusively from long-range: right-back Joao Pedro fizzed a volley goalward that Mannus did very well to push over the crossbar, while minutes later he had to push behind a Yannis Gianniotas effort from distance.
Dan Carr celebrates Rovers' equaliser. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Another long-range Pedro effort did end up in the net, but it did so by a hefty deflection off striker Emilio Zelaya, who was flagged offside.
That afforded the Rovers fans a sigh of relief, and a brief interlude from the 45-minute long riot of noise and song they whipped up for the first half.
Carr’s first-half efforts left him with little left to give after the break, and he was replaced just after the hour mark by Aaron Greene.
No matter – by then Byrne had fully taken over. Taking the ball on the halfay line, he wriggled away from one challenge, avoided another with a clean, inch-perfect nutmeg, sortied to goal before the attack perished owing to a clumsy Carr run. Ronan Finn, however, collected the loose ball and was fouled by the touchline.
Byrne swung the free-kick squarely on to Roberto Lopes’ forehead, who glanced the ball into the net and fell into the South Stand’s raptures.
Ten minutes later, Byrne whipped another perfect dead ball into the penalty area, but this time Grace saw his header bounce off the top of the bar.
From there Rovers fell too deep without conceding any clear-cut chances, and they came agonisingly close to a stunning, breakaway third. McEeneff played a perfect ball into space for Aaron Greene, who rounded the goalkeeper 25 yards from goal but could only stab the ball over the bar, finding him too close to the touchline.
Minutes later Apollon were reduced to ten men – Esteban Sachetti given a straight red card for a wild, two-footed lunge on, you guessed it, Jack Byrne.
Byrne, happily, went unhurt.
Rovers staved off some late pressure, and head to Cyprus with more than just a pep in their step.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Ethan Boyle; Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Joey O’Brien; Sean Kavanagh; Greg Bolger, Aaron McEneff (Dylan Watts, 84′), Jack Byrne; Ronan Finn (Gary O’Neill 77′), Dan Carr (Aaron Greene, 64′)
Apollon Limassol: Joel Mall; Joao Pedro, Hector Yuste, Attila Szalai, Vincent Bessat; Sasa Markovic, Esteban Sachetti; Yannis Gianniotas, Ioannis Pittas (Serge Selom Gakpe, 61′), Fotis Papoulis (Diego Aguirre, 71′) ; Emilio Zelaya (Facundo Pereyra, 81′)
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Superb Rovers come from behind to beat Apollon Limassol in Tallaght
Shamrock Rovers 2
Apollon Limassol 1
JACK BYRNE IS born easily to European football.
For a second-straight Thursday, he led Shamrock Rovers to a comeback win in the Europa League, this time against Apollon Limassol of Cyprus.
The ebb and flow of this game was controlled largely by Byrne, and while Rovers fell behind to a volleyed howitzer in the fifth minute, his inch-perfect deliveries allowed defenders Lee Grace and Roberto Lopes nod the game over on its head.
They take a lead into next week’s second leg, and the prize for keeping hold of it is a third qualifying round tie with Austria Vienna.
This Apollon side are of considerable pedigree. They knocked Basel out on their way to the group stages last season, where they then went and beat Marseille and finished behind Lazio and eventual semi-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt.
Plus, their badge pays homage to the Greek God Apollo – he who diverted the arrow into Achilles’ Heel at Troy – so they’ve had a few notions along the way.
Rovers, however, paid no deference.
Byrne’s razor guile made the difference, but he was supported by the unrelenting zeal of Ronan Finn, the tenacity of Aaron McEneff and Greg Bolger’s utterly fabulous snarl.
The game kicked off at 8pm; it had exploded by 8.01.
Apollon threatened twice within the first minute, with captain Fotis Papoulis angling an overhead kick crookedly into the South Stand.
Four minutes later he had found his angle. Greg Bolger swiped at a clearance on the edge of the box, which Joey O’Brien met with a header that went only as far as Papoulis. He let the ball bounce off his chest before slicing a gorgeous, rising volley into the top corner of Mannus’ net.
Rovers responded immediately through a series of Byrne set-pieces, all of them causing alarm. By the fourteenth minute one of them had a tangible reward. Having seen his free-kick skim off an Apollon defender and bounce behind the goal, Byrne’s subsequent outswinging corner was met by Lee Grace, who angled a header in via the right-hand post.
Dan Carr ran at the goal-line to ensure the ball crossed it, and although the goal was Grace’s he played a significant role in its creation. The move began with a Byrne free-kick which he won, having been hauled down by Hector Yuste while chasing a ball behind the Apollon defence.
Carr was included from the start tonight having helped create both goals against SK Brann last week from the bench, and here he offered Rovers a threat in behind they lacked when starting with Graham Cummins last week.
Whereas Cummins was slow and cumbrous last week, Carr was lithe and spry; offering a threat in behind while also canny enough when dropping off to buy a couple of cheap free kicks with his back to goal.
Apollon’s threat for the first quarter of the game was almost exclusively from long-range: right-back Joao Pedro fizzed a volley goalward that Mannus did very well to push over the crossbar, while minutes later he had to push behind a Yannis Gianniotas effort from distance.
Another long-range Pedro effort did end up in the net, but it did so by a hefty deflection off striker Emilio Zelaya, who was flagged offside.
That afforded the Rovers fans a sigh of relief, and a brief interlude from the 45-minute long riot of noise and song they whipped up for the first half.
Carr’s first-half efforts left him with little left to give after the break, and he was replaced just after the hour mark by Aaron Greene.
No matter – by then Byrne had fully taken over. Taking the ball on the halfay line, he wriggled away from one challenge, avoided another with a clean, inch-perfect nutmeg, sortied to goal before the attack perished owing to a clumsy Carr run. Ronan Finn, however, collected the loose ball and was fouled by the touchline.
Byrne swung the free-kick squarely on to Roberto Lopes’ forehead, who glanced the ball into the net and fell into the South Stand’s raptures.
Ten minutes later, Byrne whipped another perfect dead ball into the penalty area, but this time Grace saw his header bounce off the top of the bar.
From there Rovers fell too deep without conceding any clear-cut chances, and they came agonisingly close to a stunning, breakaway third. McEeneff played a perfect ball into space for Aaron Greene, who rounded the goalkeeper 25 yards from goal but could only stab the ball over the bar, finding him too close to the touchline.
Minutes later Apollon were reduced to ten men – Esteban Sachetti given a straight red card for a wild, two-footed lunge on, you guessed it, Jack Byrne.
Byrne, happily, went unhurt.
Rovers staved off some late pressure, and head to Cyprus with more than just a pep in their step.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Ethan Boyle; Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Joey O’Brien; Sean Kavanagh; Greg Bolger, Aaron McEneff (Dylan Watts, 84′), Jack Byrne; Ronan Finn (Gary O’Neill 77′), Dan Carr (Aaron Greene, 64′)
Apollon Limassol: Joel Mall; Joao Pedro, Hector Yuste, Attila Szalai, Vincent Bessat; Sasa Markovic, Esteban Sachetti; Yannis Gianniotas, Ioannis Pittas (Serge Selom Gakpe, 61′), Fotis Papoulis (Diego Aguirre, 71′) ; Emilio Zelaya (Facundo Pereyra, 81′)
Referee: Stephan Klossner (Switzerland)
Attendance: 5524
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Europa League LOI Shamrock Rovers Apollon