AND THUS SHAMROCK Rovers head to the group phase of the Conference League, with pride restored and confidence established with a 1-0 home win against Ferencvaros tonight in the return leg of their Europa League play-off.
The 4-0 first-leg defeat killed the tie for Rovers and the more consequential results tonight were elsewhere, which conspired to ensure Rovers will be third seeds in tomorrow afternoon’s draw.
Sure, Ferencvaros didn’t exactly fizz with the energy of last week’s tie and were listless at times – they even played a guy called (Krisztian) Lisztes – but this wasn’t just a mere consolation victory for Rovers, but also a platform for both the immediate and longer-term.
Most obviously, Jack Byrne is fit again. If he remains so for the group phase, Rovers will score goals against anyone. Here he came off the bench in the second half and came close to creating the opening goal twice before he did, courtesy of a precise corner that was headed home by Andy Lyons with two minutes remaining.
GOAL - Shamrock Rovers take the lead late on with Andy Lyons powering his header past Bogdan #EuropaLeague#rtesoccer
Rovers have also showed an encouraging ability to correct themselves in return games: they have turned heavy away defeats to Ludogorets and Ferencvaros into home wins, which should fill them with further confidence in the groups.
And, longer-term, they started a pair of teenagers in Aidomo Emakhu and Justin Ferizaj, both of whom proved why they are so highly thought of out Roadstone way.
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Ferizaj is only 17, and is part of a trio of talented young Irish teenagers with Albanian heritage, along with Kevin Zefi and Rocco Vata. If you were to assume Ferizaj is a baller from the way he wears his socks – low, Grealishesque – well, you’d be right. Here he was diligent but lithe and silky, cleverly taking up places in between the lines and linking play and knitting the combinations between Emakhu, Sean Kavanagh, and Neil Farrugia (playing instead of the rested Andy Lyons).
Ferizaj came closest to scoring in the first half, jinking inside and curling a long-range shot that whistled just by Adam Bogdan’s left-hand post. His off-the-ball work was one part of Rovers’ vastly improved performance without the ball, angling his run to force Ferencvaros to hoick the ball long down their right.
Justin Ferizaj in action for Shamrock Rovers. Evan Treacy / INPHO
Evan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Rovers spent longer with the ball than without it in the first-half, hogging the ball without creating much. Richie Towell almost forced an opening goal in the half’s closing stages, pilfering possession from a short goal kick and rolling it right to Emakhu, whose screwed attempt across the box was either a poor shot or a brilliant cross that Towell, on his heels, missed.
Rovers’ comfort in possession was at least partly down to Ferencvaros’ reticence: the rapid pace of their play from the first-leg absent, given their commanding aggregate lead.
They came closest from a set-piece just before the break: Towell was booked for a silly lunge, and Ryan Mmaee – the profligate star of the first leg – saw his close-range header batted away by Alan Mannus.
The second half convulsed with anarchic energy compared to the soporific first.
Kavanagh, a growing influence in midfield for Rovers, nabbed possession from Mmaee midway through his own half, onto which Emakhu bounded before being clipped on the edge of the box by Anderson Esiti. Rovers fans screamed for a penalty but the referee was right, and Kavanagh’s low shot was parried away by Bogdan, who then sprang up to claim Emakhu’s subsequent cross.
The Liverpool fans who watched Bogdan once concede directly from a corner in the FA Cup may have been surprised by his conviction. There was no surprise in Mannus’ reaction moments later to deny Mmaee one-on-one moments later: he is arguably in the best form of his career. At the other end, Towell volleyed a raking Kavanagh cross to the back post narrowly over the crossbar.
Ferizaj faded in the second half and was replaced with another teenager, Gideon Tetteh, the quality of whose cameo in the first leg took even his manager by surprise. Also introduced was Jack Byrne, building back to fitness having not started a game since the third week of May. Ferencvaros came close to a spectacular opener, Traore’s penalty-box overhead kick looping slightly wide.
But it was the introduction of Byrne that swing the game Rovers’ way. In the final minutes, he slipped a gorgeous pass through for substitute Andy Lyons, whose low shot was brilliantly saved by Bogdan. Moments later they came close again: Byrne’s free-kick from the right caused havoc in the Ferencvaros box, and Farrugia’s deflected shot skipped just past the post. Third time lucky: Byrne’s corner was perfect once again, and Lyons smashed a header beyond Bogdan.
This victory was deserved, and another little nugget of evidence that Rovers are not just going to the Conference League to pick up the cheque. If Byrne can stay fit, they can take a tilt at the knockout stages.
Ronan Finn applauds fans after the game. Evan Treacy / INPHO
Evan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Sean Gannon, Sean Hoare, Lee Grace; Ronan Finn (captain) (Andy Lyons, 63’); Gary O’Neill, Richie Towell (Jack Byrne, 71’), Sean Kavanagh (Dylan Watts, 72’), Justin Ferizaj (Gideon Tetteh, 71’); Neil Farrugia; Aidomo Emakhu (Aaron Greene, 63’)..
Ferencvaros: Adam Bogdan; Henry Wingo, Mats Knoester, Adnan Kovacevic, Eldar Civic; Anderson Esiti (Balint Vecsei, 56’), Aissa Laidouni; Carlos Auzqui (Marquinhos, 56’), Tokmac Nguen (captain) (Xavier Mercier, 70’), Adama Traore (Krisztian Lisztes, 78’); Ryan Mmaee (Franck Boli, 70’).
Referee: Francois Letexier
Attendance: 7163
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Lyons heads late winner to boost Shamrock Rovers ahead of Europa Conference League draw
Shamrock Rovers 1
Ferencvaros 0
Ferencvaros win 4-1 on aggregate
AND THUS SHAMROCK Rovers head to the group phase of the Conference League, with pride restored and confidence established with a 1-0 home win against Ferencvaros tonight in the return leg of their Europa League play-off.
The 4-0 first-leg defeat killed the tie for Rovers and the more consequential results tonight were elsewhere, which conspired to ensure Rovers will be third seeds in tomorrow afternoon’s draw.
Sure, Ferencvaros didn’t exactly fizz with the energy of last week’s tie and were listless at times – they even played a guy called (Krisztian) Lisztes – but this wasn’t just a mere consolation victory for Rovers, but also a platform for both the immediate and longer-term.
Most obviously, Jack Byrne is fit again. If he remains so for the group phase, Rovers will score goals against anyone. Here he came off the bench in the second half and came close to creating the opening goal twice before he did, courtesy of a precise corner that was headed home by Andy Lyons with two minutes remaining.
Rovers have also showed an encouraging ability to correct themselves in return games: they have turned heavy away defeats to Ludogorets and Ferencvaros into home wins, which should fill them with further confidence in the groups.
And, longer-term, they started a pair of teenagers in Aidomo Emakhu and Justin Ferizaj, both of whom proved why they are so highly thought of out Roadstone way.
Ferizaj is only 17, and is part of a trio of talented young Irish teenagers with Albanian heritage, along with Kevin Zefi and Rocco Vata. If you were to assume Ferizaj is a baller from the way he wears his socks – low, Grealishesque – well, you’d be right. Here he was diligent but lithe and silky, cleverly taking up places in between the lines and linking play and knitting the combinations between Emakhu, Sean Kavanagh, and Neil Farrugia (playing instead of the rested Andy Lyons).
Ferizaj came closest to scoring in the first half, jinking inside and curling a long-range shot that whistled just by Adam Bogdan’s left-hand post. His off-the-ball work was one part of Rovers’ vastly improved performance without the ball, angling his run to force Ferencvaros to hoick the ball long down their right.
Rovers spent longer with the ball than without it in the first-half, hogging the ball without creating much. Richie Towell almost forced an opening goal in the half’s closing stages, pilfering possession from a short goal kick and rolling it right to Emakhu, whose screwed attempt across the box was either a poor shot or a brilliant cross that Towell, on his heels, missed.
Rovers’ comfort in possession was at least partly down to Ferencvaros’ reticence: the rapid pace of their play from the first-leg absent, given their commanding aggregate lead.
They came closest from a set-piece just before the break: Towell was booked for a silly lunge, and Ryan Mmaee – the profligate star of the first leg – saw his close-range header batted away by Alan Mannus.
The second half convulsed with anarchic energy compared to the soporific first.
Kavanagh, a growing influence in midfield for Rovers, nabbed possession from Mmaee midway through his own half, onto which Emakhu bounded before being clipped on the edge of the box by Anderson Esiti. Rovers fans screamed for a penalty but the referee was right, and Kavanagh’s low shot was parried away by Bogdan, who then sprang up to claim Emakhu’s subsequent cross.
The Liverpool fans who watched Bogdan once concede directly from a corner in the FA Cup may have been surprised by his conviction. There was no surprise in Mannus’ reaction moments later to deny Mmaee one-on-one moments later: he is arguably in the best form of his career. At the other end, Towell volleyed a raking Kavanagh cross to the back post narrowly over the crossbar.
Ferizaj faded in the second half and was replaced with another teenager, Gideon Tetteh, the quality of whose cameo in the first leg took even his manager by surprise. Also introduced was Jack Byrne, building back to fitness having not started a game since the third week of May. Ferencvaros came close to a spectacular opener, Traore’s penalty-box overhead kick looping slightly wide.
But it was the introduction of Byrne that swing the game Rovers’ way. In the final minutes, he slipped a gorgeous pass through for substitute Andy Lyons, whose low shot was brilliantly saved by Bogdan. Moments later they came close again: Byrne’s free-kick from the right caused havoc in the Ferencvaros box, and Farrugia’s deflected shot skipped just past the post. Third time lucky: Byrne’s corner was perfect once again, and Lyons smashed a header beyond Bogdan.
This victory was deserved, and another little nugget of evidence that Rovers are not just going to the Conference League to pick up the cheque. If Byrne can stay fit, they can take a tilt at the knockout stages.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Sean Gannon, Sean Hoare, Lee Grace; Ronan Finn (captain) (Andy Lyons, 63’); Gary O’Neill, Richie Towell (Jack Byrne, 71’), Sean Kavanagh (Dylan Watts, 72’), Justin Ferizaj (Gideon Tetteh, 71’); Neil Farrugia; Aidomo Emakhu (Aaron Greene, 63’)..
Ferencvaros: Adam Bogdan; Henry Wingo, Mats Knoester, Adnan Kovacevic, Eldar Civic; Anderson Esiti (Balint Vecsei, 56’), Aissa Laidouni; Carlos Auzqui (Marquinhos, 56’), Tokmac Nguen (captain) (Xavier Mercier, 70’), Adama Traore (Krisztian Lisztes, 78’); Ryan Mmaee (Franck Boli, 70’).
Referee: Francois Letexier
Attendance: 7163
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Andy Lyons Europa League home comforts Shamrock Rovers