Shamrock Rovers 3 St Patrick's Ath 1: It should have been an irrelevant end of season affair but the controversial appointment of Roddy Collins as Shamrock Rovers manager ensured last night's encounter had some added spice.
The players gave him the ideal welcome and ended a 15-game run without a win in the process.
Collins, still smarting from criticism he received for deserting Dublin City, came out fighting in his first programme notes: "I tried to understand their bitterness and could find no reason for it," wrote Collins.
"After a lot of consideration and thought, the penny then dropped. I concluded it wasn't their love for my previous club, but the jealousy that I have the best job in the country."
Some, Brian Kerr for instance, may disagree. Nevertheless, the Rovers fans seemed reinvigorated by the new regime. Proof of this coming from their 10-minute rendition of the Foundations' 1970 number one hit Build Me Up Buttercup although, building a new stadium in Tallaght is probably higher on the board of directors' minds at present.
Rovers finally answered the call from the terraces with the opening goal on 37 minutes. Trevor Molloy claimed his fifth of the season yet St Patrick's centre back Darragh Maguire appeared to deflect David Mooney's wayward shot to the net after goalkeeper Brendan Clarke failed to deal with the high ball dropping under his crossbar.
By the break, Collins's pre-match mood had surely improved as his side dictated the opening half with their lethargic opponents' only real chance being an off-target header by Barry Prenderville.
St Patrick's were poor with their best player Keith Fahy mystifyingly receiving only a yellow card after a lunge on Shane Robinson.
The one-sided nature of the contest continued into the second-half, with Stephen Grant doubling Rovers' lead with a powerful strike to the bottom corner five minutes in.
This ensured he went back to the top of the Rovers scoring charts, on six, for the season, three of which came in one night against Dublin City.
Fahy showed the other side of his game 12 minutes from time with a curling left-foot shot to the top corner. However, Jason McGuinness ensured the derby night belonged to Rovers with a smart finish from a Rutherford corner two minutes later.
Justice prevailed by the finish with a Fahy spot kick, after Keith Dunne went down in the box, excellently pushed to safety by Rovers goalkeeper Russell Payne to kickstart the Collins era.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Payne; Treacy, McGuinness, McDonnell, Malone; Mooney, Robinson, O'Brien, Rutherford (Daniel 88); Molloy, Grant.
ST PATRICK'S ATHLETIC: Clarke; Prenderville, Maguire, Foley, Bell (Smith 85 mins); Dunne, Donnelly, Fahy, Quinnless (Casey h-t); Doyle, O'Keeffe.
Referee: A Buttimer (Cork).
