Rory Gaffney grabs Dublin derby points to extend Shamrock Rovers' lead

They weren't at their best, but Shamrock Rovers collected a crucial three points to get back to winning ways against their biggest rivals at Tallaght Stadium on Friday.

Rory Gaffney’s second-half strike was the only goal of the game, as the Hoops redeemed themselves following last week’s late defeat to surprise title-challengers, Dundalk.

The win puts the champions seven points clear of their Louth rivals, who were held to a scoreless draw by Shelbourne this evening.

Bohs, meanwhile, remain stuck in sixth-placed, struggling to find consistency and again falling to defeat off the back of a victory.

Both sides were without key players on the night. The hosts were deprived of the injured Jack Byrne and their suspended captain, Ronan Finn, while an injury sustained on international duty continues to keep Bohemians goalkeeper James Talbot on the sidelines.

Most clubs have seen attendances swell since the full return of fans after Covid restrictions, but even by those standards, the interest generated by these two sides remains an outlier.

Even with the game live on RTÉ 2, all 7,400 tickets available sold out four days prior to kick-off.

And, as the sight of diggers behind the north end reminded us, this fixture may soon boast an attendance of over 10,000, when the construction of a fourth stand is completed in late 2023.

Lining up in their customary 3-5-2, Rovers started the game with three former Gypsies – Andy Lyons, Roberto Lopes and Danny Mandroiu – running through the spine of their team.

17mins SHA 0-0 BOH No score yet in the Dublin derby. Sean Kavanagh got yellow for this challenge. Should it have been red? #rtesoccer