Goals in either half from Gary Shaw and Brandon Miele earned Shamrock Rovers an easy 2-0 win over a poor Galway United side at Tallaght Stadium.
Shaw scored his third goal in two appearances against the Tribesmen this season and Miele completed the job during a second half that came to resemble a training session for the Hoops.
Galway, who were unbeaten in nine coming into this game, looked lethargic on a fine summer's evening as the stress of two games in four days appeared to take their toll on Shane Keegan's side.
Rovers manager Stephen Bradley made one, injury-enforced, change to the side beaten 3-1 by Derry City in Buncrana on Friday as Daniel Devine returned in defence in place of Roberto Lopes.
Keegan brought in Paul Sinnott for his 200th appearance as one of two changes, and he slotted into a back three alongside regulars Stephen Folan and Lee Grace.
Initially, the away team's strategy appeared to work as they sacrificed width for solidity in the centre and, despite having the majority of the ball, Rovers created little for most of the opening period.
Long-range shots from Graham Burke, high and wide respectively, were the best the Hoops could muster until Shaw scooped a Simon Madden cross over just after the half-hour.
By contrast, Galway's pacy striker Padraic Cunningham looked threatening when isolated against Rovers' central defensive pairing Dave Webster and Daniel Devine.
He created Galway's first clear-cut chance after 25 minutes when he beat Webster for pace from a long ball and squared for Kevin Devaney, but his shot was blocked by the retreating Devine.
Minutes later, Shaw had the ball in net when Luke Byrne swung in a deep cross from the left that Galway didn't clear, and the Newbridge man controlled before hooking past Winn.
Goals from tonight’s games as Cork, Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps all won. #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/JAHN3GkpXm
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) May 22, 2017
The second half was much more one-sided the Shaw-Burke combination linked up just before the hour as Burke was allowed acres of space to measure a cross that Shaw couldn't quite climb high enough to steer under the crossbar.
It was route one all the way for the second goal, however, as a goal kick from Chencinski was flicked on by Shaw and Miele nipped in behind the narrow defence to volley past Winn from close range.
Kevin Devaney came close to pulling one back for Galway as he unleashed a dipping shot from 25 yards that Chencinski tipped over before captain Colm Horgan scooped another over the bar.
Miele had a chance to double his tally ten minutes from time when Simon Madden won the ball in midfield but he turned his shot past the post as the Hoops settled for a two-goal winning margin.
Shamrock Rovers: Tomer Chencinski; Simon Madden, David Webster (Darren Meenan 78), Daniel Devine (Sam Bone 46), Luke Byrne; David McAllister, Ronan Finn (Ryan Connolly 72), Trevor Clarke, Brandon Miele; Graham Burke, Gary Shaw.
Galway United: Conor Winn; Stephen Folan, Lee Grace, Paul Sinnott (Jesse Devers 78); Alex Byrne, Gavan Holohan (Aaron Conway 87), Conor Melody (Gary Kinneen 90+3), Colm Horgan, Kevin Devaney, Gary Shanahan; Padraic Cunningham.
