Cork City suffer on the road against Shamrock Rovers in 4-1 loss
Josh Honohan of Shamrock Rovers heads his side's second goal against Cork City. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Shamrock Rovers proved far too strong for Cork City on Monday night in Tallaght Stadium, easing to a 4-1 win in front of their home crowd.
With goals from Aaron Greene, former City defender Josh Honohan, Roberto Lopes and Jack Byrne, Rovers underlined the gulf in depth and quality between the sides, with Darragh Crowley scoring a late consolation.
It was a routine win for Rovers, and City could have few complaints. They were second-best across the pitch.
But for wasteful finishing and some very good saves from Tein Troost, it would have been a far heavier scoreline.
City made one change to their starting 11, with Josh Fitzpatrick replacing Alex Nolan following an impressive cameo off the bench against St Patrick’s Athletic.
In contrast, Rovers were able to flex their squad depth, making six changes from their previous outing just three days earlier.
Rovers led 2-0 at the break, following a first half that took its time to ignite before the hosts eventually asserted control. The opening 25 minutes were largely passive, with both sides struggling to find rhythm or urgency in possession.
The game lacked tempo, and chances were few and far between early on as both teams sized each other up cautiously.
The first real moment of quality came from the home side when Troost produced a fantastic save to deny Michael Noonan’s close-range header. The City keeper was alert again seconds later, reacting sharply to prevent Pico Lopes from making contact with the rebound as danger loomed.
Rovers began to lift their intensity and got their reward when Greene, who had been lively from the off, got on the end of a superb Dylan Watts delivery to steer home from close range.
While the cross was inch-perfect, the defending left a lot to be desired—Milan Mbeng and Freddie Anderson both switched off, allowing Greene to sneak in between them and score.
Greene almost had a second minutes later but rifled his shot into the side netting.
On the stroke of half-time, Rovers doubled their lead when Josh Honohan rose highest to meet Byrne’s teasing corner and powered his header into the net. The former City defender made no effort to hide his celebrations as he wheeled away in delight.
City's only real moment of threat came when Rio Shipston’s dangerous cross was nearly turned into his own net by Lopes, only for Ed McGinty to make a superb reflex save to tip the ball over the bar.
The second half offered little in terms of a City comeback, and the contest was effectively over just three minutes in when Lopes rose to head home Rovers’ third.
While the power on the header was solid, City keeper Troost will feel he should have done better. To his credit, Troost did make several saves in the second-half to keep the scoreline somewhat respectable..
Rovers dominated possession but were wasteful in front of goal during the closing stages, missing several chances to increase their lead.
Jack Byrne eventually added a fourth in the final minute to cap a strong display.
Cork City grabbed a late consolation in injury time through Darragh Crowley, who finished well after a rare attacking move, but it did little to take the shine off Rovers’ win.
McGinty; C O’Sullivan, Lopes, Cleary; Mattews, O’Neill (Nugent 64) Byrne, Watts (J O’Sullivan 55), Honohan (Ozhianvuha 55); Greene (Mandroiu 55, Burke 75), Noonan.
Toost; Crowley, Mbeng, Anderson, Lyons, Couto (Kiernan 57): Murray (Skieters 57), Shipston (McLaughlin 46), Nelson; O’Sullivan (Dunne 70), Fitzpatrick (Nolan 46)
P Norton.
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