Full-time: Finn Harps unable to tame rampant Shamrock Rovers as the Hoops lift the title

Shamrock Rovers 3

Finn Harps 0

Shamrock Rovers won their 19th League of Ireland title this evening as they proved too strong for relegation threatened Finn Harps in front of the biggest crowd of the season at Tallaght Stadium.

Boosted by the tonic of a third minute goal from Danny Mandroiu - he added the second in the 23rd minute - the Hoops were good value for their 2-0 interval lead.

The second half was a closer fought affair, but Rovers were never in danger of dropping any points and emerged as comfortable winners with the third goal in the 88th minute being the icing on the cake.

Harps remain in the relegation play-off position and have a real battle on their hands to try and get out of it. Next up is a crucial home match against Drogheda United in Ballybofey on Monday.

Elsewhere, Sligo Rovers beat Drogheda United 2-0, Dundalk beat Waterford 1-0, Derry and Bohemians drew 1-1 while Longford lost 4-1 at  home to St. Patrick's Athletic.

FIRST HALF

Rovers could hardly have asked for a better start on such an occasion.

Mandroiu - who had already had a long range pot on goal - slipped between two Harps players as he latched onto a long ball and advanced towards goal before rounding the advancing Mark Anthony McGinley and sliding the ball  into the unguarded net.

Danny Mandroiu gets Shamrock Rovers off to a dream start! They lead Finn Harps 1-0.

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Harps responded positively with some neat interchanges of passes before a decent burst forward from Ryan Connolly resulted in him being fouled by Roberto Lopez on the edge of the box on nine minutes, but the resulting free was wasted.

Indeed, Harps enjoyed the better of things for a period, but without being able to trouble Alan Mannus in the home goal.

The next opportunity of note did not materialise until the 20th minute when when Rory Gaffney got into a threatening position inside the box but was unable to find the target.

At the other end the ever industrious Barry McNamee whipped in a fine cross but there was no Harps man able to get onto the end of it.

Rovers’ second goal was a cracking score with Richie Towell finding Dylann Watt who sent in the ball from the right side of the penalty area and Mandroiu - unmarked - stooped to get in a fine glancing header that flew past McGinley into the bottom corner.

Danny Mandroiu at the double! He heads home Dylan Watts' cross to put title-chasing Shamrock Rovers 2-0 up against Finn Harps.

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And it could have been three before the half hour mark for the Hoops when Neil Farruiga had a shot saved at the expense of a corner from which Chris McCann had a header deflected outside of the post. 

With the Tallaght support sensing more goals, Harps were clearly struggling to keep Rovers at bay and McGinley was being increasingly brought into action. 

Robbie Gaffney had a shot off the legs of the retreating Shane McEleney around the post on 39 minutes and Watts then went close with a fine strike.

SECOND HALF

After a quiet opening to the second half, Rovers had a penalty shout dismissed in the 57th minute after Farrugia went down under pressure from Ryan Connolly.

Shortly afterwards, Gaffney had an effort blocked and Mandriou then had a shot straight at McGinley as Rovers injected a bit of pace into the game again.

Harps, though, enjoyed a good spell for a brief period with some neat passing but they struggled to create much in attack, although the introduction of Tunde Owolabi and Adam Foley gave new options.

In a bid to inject a bit more pace, Rovers made a triple substitution with 18 minutes to go with Graham Burke, Aaaron Greene and  Gary O'Neill coming on (a show of the strength they have in their squad) for Watts, Gaffney, and Towell respectively.

But it was another late substitute, teenager Aidomo Emakhu, who got the third and final goal, in the 88th minute as he latched onto a long ball and rounded McGinley to score.

And Rovers could have had a fourth in stoppage time when another teenage subsitute Conor Noonan was clean through but his shot was saved by McGinley.

Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Gannon, O’Brien, Grace, Lopes; Towell, McCann, Mandroiu, Farrugia; Watts, Gaffney. Subs: Burke for Watts, Greene for Gaffney, O'Neill for Towell (all 72 mins), Emakhu for Farrugia (83 mins), Noonan for Mandriou (86 mins).

Finn Harps: McGinley; Boyle, Webster, McEleney, Mustoe; O’Sullivan, McNamee, Coyle, Connolly, Rainey; Boyd. Subs: Seymour for Coyle, Hawkins for Rainey (both h-t), Owolabi for Boyd (60 mins), Foley for O’Sullivan (68 mins), Doherty for Connolly (82 mins)

Referee: P. McLaughlin (Monaghan).