Champions Shamrock Rovers sit comfortably top of the pile with a six-point cushion at the summer break courtesy of a comfortable 4-0 win over UCD at Tallaght Stadium.
An early Harvey O'Brien own goal, quickly followed by a Jack Byrne tap-in and Graham Burke bundled finish sealed all three points before the break, before substitute Kieran Cruise added a fourth in the second half.
With two previous 3-0 victories over the Students, an expectant Rovers crowd hoped for a few goals in the south Dublin sunshine and were not disappointed as their side swept aside a very much depleted Students side.
Andy Myler could just name five on his bench as his battling side could only hold the waves of Rovers attacks at bay for so long.
Sean Kavanagh went agonisingly close from 25-yards but couldn’t keep his free-kick on target and with a quarter of an hour gone the relentless pressure told.
Neil Farrugia burst down the right wing before drilling a low cross to the in-form Aaron Greene, who failed to connect properly with his shot, eventually seeing the ball rebound off the helpless Harvey O’Brien and into his own goal.
Rovers doubled their lead shortly after and in very similar fashion to the opener. This time Graham Burke flew down the left wing before hammering a low cross across goal, and although Jack Keaney did his best to cut out the ball, could only tee it up for Byrne to force over the line.
Burke got his name to the scoresheet just before the break to make it three and effectively wrap up the points.
Again it was man-of-the-match Farrugia causing mayhem down the right, putting it on a plate for his front man to bundle home.
Safe in the knowledge all three points were wrapped up, the Hoops boss rang the changes at half time, resting star men such as Byrne, skipper Roberto Lopes and Markus Poom, giving minutes to exciting academy graduates Kieran Cruise and Conan Noonan.
And just minutes after his introduction, Cruise notched his first senior goal for the club right in front of a bouncing South stand, overjoyed for the latest Rovers star.
Having seen Burke’s powerful strike fall kindly, Cruise calmly slotted past Moore to make it four on a dream night for the youngster.
Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pohls, Neil Farrugia, Sean Hoare, Roberto Lopes (Conan Noonan, 45’), Lee Grace, Sean Kavanagh, Markus Poom (Darragh Nugent, 45’), Gary O’Neill, Jack Byrne (Kieran Cruise, 45’), Graham Burke (Liam Burt, 61’), Aaron Greene (Rory Gaffney, 35’)
UCD: Kian Moore, Daniel Babb, Harvey O’Brien (Ryan Bowden, 78’), Adam Wells, Michael Gallagher, Evan Osam, Alex Nolan, Jack Keaney, Brendan Barr (Kyle Donoghue, 87’), Daniel Norris (Danu Kinsella-Bishop, 59’), Jake Doyle
Referee: David Dunne
