Jack Byrne inspired Shamrock Rovers to victory, as they disposed of a spirited Drogheda United at Tallaght Stadium.
The 25-year-old Republic of Ireland international assisted Sean Gannon's opener and scored an incredible second during a man-of-the-match performance in front of a 4,100 strong crowd.
Drogheda attempted to stage a late fightback, scoring through Evan Weir but Graham Burke extinguished any travelling hopes with his composed finish in the 82nd minute.
For Shamrock Rovers, tonight was about quick redemption following Friday's late loss away to Derry.
That 2-1 defeat was the Hoops' first defeat to the Candystripes since 2017, and emphasised that Stephen Bradley's men – for all their talent – won't have things all their own way if they are to retain their league title this year.
@Jackb_8, stop it! 😅
— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) February 28, 2022
After a 💎 of an assist earlier, the @ShamrockRovers man gives his side a 2-0 lead with this long-range effort 👇
HT| Rovers 2-0 @DroghedaUnited pic.twitter.com/CbII7mSq1t
Drogheda, who lost their first game of the season to Damien Duff's Shelbourne last time out, always faced an uphill battle in Tallaght this evening.
Despite recording a 1-1 draw here last season, the Louth club had lost seven of their last 10 matches against the champions and will continue the search for their first points of the season at home to UCD on Friday.
Rovers are well used to dominating proceedings from the first minute in Tallaght Stadium, however, Drogheda, to their credit, had the best of the opening 10 minutes.
Darragh Markey flicked an early Weir cross over the bar, before Adam Foley forced a strong save from Alan Mannus two minutes later.
However, as was to be expected, Bradley's side soon took control.
A series of Byrne corners caused problems in quick succession, as Roberto Lopes directed two powerful headers just off target.
And, on the 20 minute mark, Byrne crafted the opening goal of the game, threading through a sublime pass that few of his peers would have dared to try.
Ten yards inside the opposition half, facing his own goal, the 2019 and 2020 PFAI Player of the Year managed to control and unleash an incisive through ball for Gannon to collect and finish into the bottom left corner.
Oh yes oh yes 🔥 pic.twitter.com/IWkUqUbYD9
— Shamrock Rovers FC ☘️ (@ShamrockRovers) February 28, 2022
The visitors were now visibly struggling in midfield. Byrne seemed to be teleporting between pockets of space, splitting the backline with ease.
With four minutes left in the first half, the 25-year-old doubled the Hoops’ lead.
Collecting the ball 30 yards from goal, Byrne glided goalward before firing the ball into the roof of the net.
Despite being two goals down, Drogheda didn’t prove pushovers in the second half and Darragh Markey flourished in possession as the visitors began to appear more composed on the ball.
With 25 minutes to go they got a goal of their own. Failing to deal with a cross, Alan Mannus punched the ball only as far as Weir who converted inside the box.
Drogheda pushed for an equaliser, but the Hoops always looked dangerous on the counter-attack.
And with eight minutes to go, Burke collected all three points when he capitalised on the space in behind to race through and slot the ball past Colin McCabe.
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus, Sean Gannon (Ronan Finn, 76), Sean Hoare, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace, Andy Lyons; Gary O’Neill, Dylan Watts (Richie Towell, 77), Danny Mandroiu (Aidomo Emakhu, 77), Jack Byrne (Graham Burke, 57); Aaron Greene.
Drogheda United: Colin McCabe; Georgie Poynton, Andrew Quinn, Sean Roughan (Chris Lyons, 79), Dane Massey, Evan Weir; James Clarke, Gary Deegan, Darragh Markey, Dylan Grimes (Dean Williams, 59); Adam Foley (Mark Huges, 59).
Referee: Adriano Reale
