This article is from page 87 of the 2009-05-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 87 JPG
MISSION accomplished for Rock Rovers in the end, but to say that they made very hard work of it is the understatement of the Clare soccer year.
The maths beforehand were sim- ple really – Rock had to win this lo- cal derby to claim the title, while a draw would have plunged them into a play-off decider against Shannon Olympic, provided the latter got the better of Kilrush Rangers at home.
Olympic got their win – Rovers did too, but it was nailbiting stuff at the end of this Ennis derby as the ‘Pike chased down an equaliser that would have seen the Clare League’s assist- ant secretary Oliver Fitzpatrick keep the First Division trophy under lock and key in his car.
Seven minutes from time it looked as 1f that equaliser had arrived – a diving header from substitute Shane Moroney looked destined for the bot- tom left-hand corner of the net until Leonard Keane somehow got a hand to it to turn it the other side of the post.
Then two minutes from time Brian Shannon got past Rovers’ defensive wall, but from 10 yards shot straight at Keane.
Thing is, if the ‘Pike had managed to breach Leonard Keane’s goal in this desperate onslaught that saw keeper Dermot Gannon move for- ward into the opposition half, Rovers would only have had themselves to blame.
They dominated this game in the first half – the bumpy pitch failing to upset their attempts to play a slick passing game – and were rewarded with a 2-0 by half-time.
Stephen Hickey was the man. Go- ing into the game he had 18 goals to his name this season – 25 minutes into the final game of the season he reached the landmark figure of 20.
The first after ten minutes was a goal worthy of winning the league t1- tle. David Considine whipped a cor- ner towards the penalty spot; Marty McLoughlin belied his lack of inches to nod the ball towards Hickey and the hottest striker in Clare soccer found the net with an audacious over- head kick.
Hickey doubled Rock’s advantage 15 minutes later – this time it was a more conventional strike as the league leaders cut through the brittle looking ‘Pike defence.
Marty McLoughlin put Niall Mc- Niven through and after his shot was saved by Dermot Gannon, Hickey pounced to pick up the scraps and rolled home the rebound from eight yards.
It looked as if Rovers would have a comfortable afternoon of it – they were dominating in most sectors of the field, while the ‘Pike had nothing
to play for.
Their season was effectively ended on Wednesday night when their 1-1 draw away to Mountshannon Celtic ended their hopes getting third place in the division and thereby playing third from bottom of the Premier Division in the promotion/relegation play-off.
However, the ‘Pike were never about to roll over for Rovers and their battling qualities emerged in the sec- ond half, once they were gifted a goal eight minutes into proceedings.
It was a calamity from Rovers point
of view – Jason Hayes’ shot from just outside the area shouldn’t have trou- bled Keane, but somehow the ball re- bounded off him before being turned into his own net by Greg Howard.
Suddenly the “Pike had a cause – this was a local derby after all and for the rest of the half they had the definite edge.
And as the minutes dragged on Rovers seemed to getting more nerv- ous as their finishing line jitters near- ly came between them and going up to the Premier Division for the first time as champions.
In the 78th minute Stephen Hickey did have a chance for his hat-trick that would have killed the game, but scuffed his shot, while Niall Mc- Niven balooned over the bar from 12 yards in the 82nd minute.
All the while the ‘Pike never stopped pressed forward in search of an equaliser – their persistence seemed to have paid off when Shane Moroney’s header looked all over a goal, while Brian Shannon with that booming left foot of his would al- ways fancy his chances in a one-on- one with a keeper.
Not to be however for both Moro- ney and Shannon as Leonard Keane, a former Turnpike Rovers stalwart, emerged as a hero to rival player of the year Stephen Hickey.