Shamrock Rovers 0-1 Sligo Rovers
Romeo Parkes pulled the pin and lobbed a title race grenade as Sligo Rovers claimed top spot with a contested winner in Tallaght.
The Jamaican international appeared to be in an offside position when he raced onto Jordan Gibson’s through ball before beating goalkeeper Alan Mannus.
And it consigned the Hoops to back-to-back league defeats for the first time since Bohemians and Dundalk turned them over in April 2019.
Friday’s defeat in Dundalk brought an end to the champions’ historic 33-game unbeaten run but Stephen Bradley was confident it was only a blip.
It would be alarmist to suggest that this latest defeat represents a crisis for a club used to getting its own way on the pitch.
But the Hoops were sloppy throughout and with their ex-midfielder Greg Bolger leading old team-mates on a merry dance, Sligo were good value for the table-flipping points.
Touted as dark horses at the start of the season, the hype appeared misguided when they fell off the pace after banking two points from nine in late April and early May.
But credit the response as this was their fourth win on the spin which suggests the new Premier Division leaders may indeed be the real deal as they lay claim to the throne.
Rovers’ cause certainly wasn’t helped when they were forced to alter their shape when Joey O’Brien was forced off with an injury in the eighth minute.
Lee Grace shifted across to the right side of the back three with Liam Scales slotting into the left and Max Murphy coming off the bench to fill the wing-back void.
Small adjustments and yet they knock the champions off kilter and some of their passing out from the back and around midfield was scattergun.
Their opponents needed no second invitation and they lapped up the various little gifts dropped at their feet, spending a good deal of the game in possession.
Gibson, Walter Figueira and Bolger all reeled off early shots, all of which were more likely to take out the lighting in the upper tier of the stand than test Mannus.
The hosts also struggled to generate clear cut chances, although not for the lack of effort on Rory Gaffney’s part.
His battle with centre-back John Mahon was GAA-esque considering the dunts being dished out, none of which went unnoticed by ref Neil Doyle who had to separate them.
Perhaps the genesis of their duel stemmed from last month’s clash at the Showgrounds when Gaffney came off the bench and bullied Mahon to bag a last gasp equaliser.
But the impressive Mahon stood firm here and deflected a rasping Sean Gannon drive to safety in what was the Hoops clearest chance of a drab first-half.
Even Graham Burke’s team-mates didn’t have the heart to fully embrace his penalty appeal under a Garry Buckley challenge as the Sligo defender clearly won the ball.
The tempo increased after the break and so too did the frequency of attacks with Gibson smashing the stanchion and Murphy dragging a shot wide at the other end.
But the winner came 10 minutes after the restart. Mahon’s cleared ball up the line was headed in Gibson’s path by Hoops defender Scales.
His flicked ball into space set Parkes scampering free but, it seemed, from an offside position. Nevertheless, he unleashed a low and confident shot past Mannus.
Burke’s vicious snapshot was as close as the hosts came to restoring parity and this time their knack of scoring late, important goals deserted them.
What threatened to be a procession a matter of weeks ago has become a contest, with St Pat’s also lurking in the shadows.
We’ll see what all three are made of now.
SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus 6; O’Brien 5 (Murphy 8, 5, WIlliams 78, 5), Lopes 6, Grace 5; Gannon 6, O’Neill 5 (McCann 70, 6), Mandroiu 5, Scales 5; Burke 6; Greene 6, Gaffney 6.
SLIGO ROVERS: McGinty 6; Banks 6, Buckley 7, Mahon 7, McCourt 6; Morahan 7, Bolger 8; Byrne 5 (Kenny 68, 6), Gibson 7, Figueria 6; Parkes 7 (De Vries 86, 5)
MOTM: Bolger
Referee: N Doyle (Dublin)
