Stephen Bradley: Shamrock Rovers didn't 'show up' in Cup exit to Bohs

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley admitted too many of his side failed to "show up" as they were exited the FAI Cup at the hands of their city rivals Bohemians in Dalymount Park on Friday night.

Currently 13 points adrift of league leaders Shelbourne in the title race, the Cup was pegged as probably the four-in-a-row Premier Division champions most realistic shot at silverware for the remainder of the season but Dayle Rooney's second half penalty put paid to their hopes of a first Cup win since 2019.

The Rovers manager insisted that the hosts didn't exactly pepper their goal with attempts but acknowledged that his side didn't play well enough to get a result, and was particularly frustrated by Dan Cleary's missed headed opportunity.

"Not enough of us showed up tonight," Hoops boss Stephen Bradley bluntly told RTÉ Sport's Tony O'Donoghue after the game.

"Simple as that. To win any game of football, you have to show up. A few did, but not enough showed up.

"Dan should put the header in. It's a few yards out. It's a free header. They have one (chance) across the box from a corner, but I don't think there's any other chance in the game until the penalty.

"But like I said, if you want to win any game of football, the large majority of the team have to show up. We didn't have enough tonight."

The game fell three days after the high-point of Shamrock Rovers' otherwise messy 2024 season, their dramatic Champions League First Qualifying Round victory over Iceland's Vikingur Reykjavik, the visitors missing a last minute penalty when trailing 2-1 and holding a man advantage in the case of extra-time.

Their reward is a tie against Sparta Prague, the Czech side landing into Tallaght for the first leg on Tuesday. Bradley, however,