Soccer

Seán Heaney gets Shamrock Rovers back to winning ways

Teenager won early penalty and scored the winner against Bray Wanderers

Gary McCabe converts a penalty to give Shamrock Rovers the lead against Bray Wanderers in their Airtricity League Premier Division game at Tallaght Stadium. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho
Gary McCabe converts a penalty to give Shamrock Rovers the lead against Bray Wanderers in their Airtricity League Premier Division game at Tallaght Stadium. Photograph: Donall Farmer/Inpho
Mon Apr 21 2014 - 21:58

Shamrock Rovers 2 Bray Wanderers 1

Having won an early penalty, teenager Seán Heaney subsequently scored his first goal for Shamrock Rovers to help get them back to winning ways at Tallaght Stadium.

Following tough away assignments at champions St Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk, which yielded just one point, Rovers gratefully accepted the gift of a penalty after just six minutes to welcome them back home.

Bray’s Adam Mitchell was deemed to have pushed Heaney to the ground in the area and Gary McCabe scored emphatically from the spot.

Rovers’ slick passing and movement was causing Bray all sorts of difficulty and but for Stephen McGuinness between their post Wanderers might have been further behind by the interval. First the youngster made a terrific save to push ex-Bray winger Marty Waters’ shot onto an upright after Ronan Finn’s sublime through ball.

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Waters then put Ciarán Kilduff in on goal, but McGuinness was off his line to make the save. McGuinness was there once again to thwart Kilduff four minutes later with a save at the striker's feet after an inch-perfect through ball by Stephen McPhail.

Fortunate
The Bray defence was fortunate not to concede a second penalty on 41 minutes when Jason McGuinness appeared to have been hauled down as he went to meet McPhail's free ,

A minute later, defender Niall Cooney headed away McCabe’s chip after the 19-year-old’s clearance had gone straight to the Rovers’ winger.

It remained one-way traffic and Rovers doubled their lead on 57 minutes when 18-year-old Heaney, on his second league appearance, was negligently marked to meet McCabe corner to head to the net.

Bray were given a lifeline on 76 minutes when Simon Madden was adjudged to have impeded Ismahil Akinade as he came to meet David Cassidy's cross. Dave Scully blasted home the resulting penalty.
SHAMROCK ROVERS : Murphy; Madden, Cornwall, McGuinness, Heaney; Robinson, McPhail (Bayly, 63); McCabe, Finn (Sheppard, 75), Waters; Kilduff (Zayed, 68).
BRAY WANDERERS : McGuinness; McGill, Cooney, Mitchell, Maloney; Scully (S O'Neill, 85), Zambra, G. Kelly (Curran, 74), Hanlon; Cassidy; Akinade (C Byrne, 78).
Referee : Derek Tomney (Dublin).