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RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Shamrock Rovers sail through following St Joseph's stalemate
It wasn't pretty but with a 4-0 lead from the first leg, Shamrock Rovers could afford to play a game that was more akin to a training match as they eased through to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League and a meeting with Kosovan side Ballkani next Thursday with the first leg away from home. It also means that the Rovers versus Derry City Premier Division game will now go ahead as planned in Tallaght at 7pm on Sunday evening. It was a game that never lifted itself out of the ordinary. The Gibraltar side, on a mission impossible, defended in numbers, content it seemed with the stalemate as they gained a measure of pride at keeping the second leg scoreless after last week's hammering, Hoops manager Stephen Bradley, as expected, made wholesale changes from the first leg, six in total, giving midfielder Cian Barrett, son of ex-Ireland international Graham Barrett, his full debut. In a forgettable first half, it was the visitors had the best early chance in the seventh minute as Manual Sanchez fed Jayce Olivero inside the area, but Olivero never steadied himself and ballooned his shot over the bar. Straight from the goal kick, Rory Gaffney saw his shot rebound off the knees of the St Joseph's keeper Bradley Banda and Danny Grant blazed the follow up over the bar when he should really have scored. The visitors were content to defend, sitting deep. But they almost scored just after the half hour as Hoops keeper Ed McGinty had to come quickly off his line to smother a shot by Javi Forjan, put through by an excellent ball down the channel by Geovanni Barba. Rovers began to up the pressure at the resumption and teenager Michael Noonan, who was celebrating his 17th birthday, created a chance for sub John McGovern, but his close-range header was well saved, one handed, by Banda. Late in a game Noonan was denied what looked like a penalty as he tumbled in the area, but the Rovers appeals from players and fans alike were waved away by the referee as the game then petered out to its inevitable conclusion. Shamrock Rovers: Ed McGinty; Gary O'Neill,Roberto Lopez © (Lee Grace 45), Cory O'Sullivan; Danny Grant, Jack Byrne (Sean Kavanagh 63) Aaron McEniff (Dylan Watts 63), Cian Barrett, Josh Holohan (Danny Mandroiu 63) ; Rory Gaffney (John McGovern 45), Michael Noonan St Joseph's FC: Bradley Banda; Leon Volz, Gabri Cardozo (Javi Paul 79), Geovanni Barba, Jace Olivero; Juan Pena (Pablo Rodriguez 60), Manuel Sanchez, Juanma ©; Mitch Gibson (Adrian Armental 45), Javi Forjan (Ethan Santos 65), Angel Martinez.
The Irish Sun
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Shamrock Rovers confirm place in next round of Conference League as drab draw with St Joseph's seals easy aggregate win
WHILST their next game was decided by a sudden-death penalty shootout in Kosovo, this was of the more slow and painful variety. A 4-0 win in the first leg meant that this had none of the jeopardy attached to Larne beating Prishtina on spot-kicks. 2 Shamrock Rovers drew 0-0 with St Joseph's to confirm their place in the next round of the Conference League Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile 2 They will face Ballkani in the next round Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile The relevance of that to Rovers was the absence of a second Kosovan side in the next round of the As a result their league game against And precious little happened on the pitch to distract attention from what came next for the Hoops. If a comfortable first-leg win had provided Read More on Shamrock Rovers In the event, he made six changes to his team with Cian Barrett - son of former player Graham - starting in He lined up in an otherwise experienced midfield including one senior Josh Honohan, as well as Danny Grant. And those combinations of youth and experience were elsewhere in the team as well with Michael Noonan, on his 17th birthday, partnered by 35-year-old Rory Gaffney. And, in defence, Cory O'Sullivan had Roberto Lopes and Gary O'Neill to show him the ropes. Most read in Football Despite the unfamiliar look of the side, there was still an expectation that Rovers would have too much for the visitors on the night and might even match or surpass their record aggregate European win of 7-0 against FRAM Reykjavik 43 years ago. But it soon became clear that this was a game which they simply wanted to negotiate without over-exerting themselves or picking up any unnecessary injuries with no real impetus to perform to their potential. League of Ireland mascots compete in charity race in Naas There were times before he went off that Gaffney looked a danger but his marker Geovanni Barba impressed and, indeed, provided the pass for St Joseph's best chance before the break. The part-timers had the first chance of the game when Manuel Sánchez picked out Jayce Olivero but he blazed over the bar. Almost immediately, at the other end, Gaffney cut in from the right and extracted a good save from keeper Bradley Banda. Grant was quickest to the rebound but he fired well over when he would have expected to have further tested Banda. Just after the hour mark, Barba played a slide-rule pass through to Javi Forján but Ed McGinty was alert to the danger, racing off his line to deny him. They carved out more openings before the interval when, after Juan Pena appealed for a penalty, Angel Martinez was unable to keep his effort on target . Given how the first half had gone, and a desire to manage the minutes of some of his older players, it was no surprise to see a double substitute before the restart. Lee Grace was sent on for Lopes with John McGovern coming on for Gaffney. The changes did not yield an immediate improvement, although Noonan did force Banda into action, with a further three changes made just after the hour mark. They saw Dylan Watts, Danny Mandroiu and Sean Kavanagh brought on in a bid to give the home crowd something to shout about. But, although they were clearly tiring, the part-timers continued to apply themselves and ensure that the home side got nothing easily. They occasionally threatened on the break too with substitute Pablo Rodriguez getting on the end of a cross but he was unable to direct his header on target and, in any case, he was flagged for offside. Captain Juanma did better when he got on the end of Adrien Armental's cross but McGinty made a comfortable save. SUN STAR MAN : Gabriel Barba (St Joseph's) SHAMROCK ROVERS : McGinty 7; O'Neill 7, Lopes 7 (Grace 46, 7), O'Sullivan 7; Grant 6, Barrett 6, Byrne 6 (Kavanagh 63, 5), McEneff 6 (Watts 63, 5), Honohan 6 (Mandroiu 63. 5); Noonan 6, Gaffney 6 (McGovern 46, 5). ST JOSEPH'S : Banda 6; Volz 6, Cardozo 6 (Paul 79, 4), Barba 7, Olivero 6; Gibson 5 (Amental 46, 5), Juanma 6, Pena 6 (Rodriguez 60, 5), Sanchez 6, Martinez 6; Forján 6 (Santos 65, 4). REFEREE : G Macedonqi (Sweden)
Irish Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Shamrock Rovers will travel to Kosovo next week after stress-free Tallaght draw
Shamrock Rovers 0-0 St Joseph's With the hard work done in the heat of Gibraltar last week, this one had more of a pre-season vibe about it as Shamrock Rovers eased into the Europa Conference League third qualifying round. Results elsewhere on Thursday night mean it's a trip to Kosovo for next Thursday's first leg against Ballkani, who saw off Maltese outfit Floriana 5-3 on aggregate. It was understandable that Rovers' performance lacked the tempo that you would normally expect on a big European night, given that the hard yards were run in Gibraltar last week. But there was no intensity to St Joseph's performance either. Four goals down, you'd think the pre-match message would have been to get the first goal and go from there. But they didn't seem too interested in testing Rovers' resolve. Hoops boss Stephen Bradley felt the lead was comfortable enough to ring in the changes to his starting-11, and he made six changes to the side that started in Gibraltar. Not that you could call it a weakened team, given that among the changes were Jack Byrne, Gary O'Neill, playing in an unfamiliar role in Rovers' three-man defence, Aaron McEneff and Michael Noonan. Youngsters Cory O'Sullivan and Cian Barrett have both tasted plenty of first-team action this year. And by the 61st minute, Bradley had made all five substitutes, bringing on a bucketload of experience in Lee Grace, Sean Kavanagh, Dylan Watts and Danny Mandriou, as well as new signing John McGovern, who scored his first goal for the club last week in the first-leg win. With the prospect of a game against Derry on Sunday hanging in the balance - and dependent on the fortunes of two Kosovan teams - he could afford to give Graham Burke, Matt Healy and Dan Cleary a watching brief. Larne's win over Prishtina means the Derry game will go ahead as planned, before their trip to face Ballkani. Rovers' benched stars might have snuck in 40 winks at some point, as neither side made serious inroads, barring the odd exception. Had Danny Grant been more accurate in the eighth minute, when he blasted high over the bar from 12 yards, maybe that might have injected a little more excitement into proceedings. He raced onto the loose ball after goalkeeper Bradley Banda parried Rory Gaffney's angled near-post drive, but couldn't keep his effort down. St Joseph's did come close to a first-half goal, just after the 30-minute mark, when Geovanni Barba's through ball found Javi Forjan on the march into the Hoops area. However, goalkeeper Ed McGinty was alert to the danger, and he raced off his line to narrow the angle and make the save. Rovers' teenage striker Michael Noonan was celebrating his 17th birthday yesterday, but he couldn't mark the occasion with a goal. He was, however, feeding off scraps. A rare opening emerged early in the second-half when he came inside from the left and let fly, only for Gabri Cardozo to stick out a foot and block his shot. Rovers kept the attack going, however, and Noonan got a second chance, which he curled towards the far post. Sub McGovern attempted to deceive Banda, who was already off his feet, by altering the direction of the ball slightly with his head, but the goalkeeper still managed to get his hand to it. Another Noonan chance of his own making as the clock drifted towards 90 saw the birthday boy spin brilliantly past one challenge, and make a dart for the right angle of the six yard box. St Joseph's sub Javi Paul appeared to lean into the striker, and Noonan went tumbling, but Swiss referee Granit Maqedonci saw nothing wrong and pointed for a goal-kick. Replays suggested that the official got that one wrong. A goal at that stage would have given the 5,128-strong crowd something to cheer, and would have boosted both Rovers' and Ireland's co-efficient. But there will be more opportunities for that. SHAMROCK ROVERS: Ed McGinty 6; Gary O'Neill 6, Roberto Lopes 6 (Lee Grace 46, 7), Cory O'Sullivan 6; Danny Grant 6, Jack Byrne 6 (Sean Kavanagh 62, 6), Cian Barrett 6, Aaron McEneff 6 (Dylan Watts 62, 6), Josh Honohan 6 (Danny Mandroiu 62, 6); Rory Gaffney 6 (John McGovern 46), Michael Noonan 7. ST JOSEPH'S: Bradley Banda 6; Leon Volz 6, Gabri Cardozo 7, Geovanni Barba 7, Jayce Olivero 6; Juan Pena 6 (Pablo Rodriguez 61), Manuel Sanchez 6, Junama 6; Mitch Gibson 6 (Adrian Armental 47), Javi Forjan 6 (Ethan Santos 65), Angel Martinz 6. REFEREE: Granit Maqedonci (Switzerland)
Belfast Telegraph
a day ago
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
Cliftonville one step from European history after remarkable extra-time win over Mitrovica
Carla Devine came off the bench to score a hat-trick in a 3-1 success over Kosovan side Mitrovica and now they will take on Lanchkhuti of Georgia in the tournament final on Saturday.
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Larne display 'like night and day'
Larne manager Nathan Rooney reflected on a "night and day performance in terms of the first and second half" by his side after they drew 0-0 with Kosovan team Pristina in the first leg of their Uefa Conference League second qualifying round tie. Last season's Irish Premiership runners-up twice cleared efforts off the line in the second half while goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson denied Leutrim Kryeziu on two occasions with fine saves. "We didn't come out for the second half at all," bemoaned the Larne boss after the game at Ballymena Showgrounds. "We just seemed to force the play and come away from what we are really good at. "We didn't take our chances at the vital times so hopefully we can get back to the form we showed in the first half going into next week [the second leg in Prishtina on 31 July]. "They got a little bit of possession in that first 10 or 15 minutes of the second half and that rattled us a little bit but we changed formation to get us through the game in good fashion and that's what we did." Rooney says that his charges will regroup for a testing second leg. "They're athletic, they grew into the game so it's going to be a tough task over there but we'll put a plan in place and give it everything. "We'll freshen up. I've seen tonight that the squad is quite tired, especially after the hour mark, so we'll put in some planning and preparation over the next 24 hours to see how that looks."
