Stephen Bradley: Big Shamrock Rovers win had been on the cards for weeks

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley felt a big win had been on the cards for a while after his side consigned their winless start to the season to the rear view mirror with a 4-0 triumph at ten-man Dundalk on Friday night.

The defending SSE Airtricity League champions had gone into the trip to Oriel Park off the back of five draws and a defeat to show for their performances.

But goals from Rory Gaffney, Lee Grace, Johnny Kenny and Graham Burke ensured they picked up three points for the first time this season and their manager said the club had remained serene in the build-up to that game and into next week's derby against Bohemians.

"That's why we've been very calm in the club, in-house. We understand that people are going to talk," Bradley told RTÉ Sport.

"But I've been saying it for weeks that the performances have been there and I felt the scoreline tonight, I think that was coming for quite a number of weeks. It could have happened in the last two games."

Bradley also added that the fans had largely remained supportive in the knowledge that performances had been superior to the results.

"It's been fine. When you look at all the stats at the start of the season, we're number one in every category so that tells you we're right there," he said.

"There was never any panic and when we sat down and went through it last week as a group, we knew we were in a good place."

Dundalk boss Stephen O'Donnell was unhappy with the decision to send off Robbie Benson for a foul on Lee Grace in the first half during a point in the game when the Lilywhites were a goal down.

"The opposition manager, Stephen, says to me at the end of the game, 'Never been a red card,'" he said, adding that it was a "poor decision" from the referee.

"So that's