SHAMROCK ROVERS 2 GALWAY UNITED 0
Without a win against Shamrock Rovers in the capital since 1994 this was always likely to prove a demanding evening at Tallaght Stadium for an understrength Galway United.
So it transpired as Stephen Bradley's accomplished outfit pounced to strike twice inside the opening half .
Tuam native Rory Gaffney rattled the Galway United net with a cushioned finish from Richie Towell's inviting 17th minute cross.
Then a second was added four minutes later when Gaffney's pass located Sean Gannon, who supplied a sweet delivery for Dylan Watts to score.
Rovers came close to adding a third shortly after the restart when Towell connected with Gannon's cross from the right flank.
United, though, were much improved as substitute Caoilfhinn O'Dea extracted a decent save from Mannus on 55.
Ruairi Keating was thwarted by the woodwork in the 70th minute following a clever Mikey Place pass as United posed some questions.
Sufficient Rovers damage, though, had been inflicted early on.
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; O’Brien (Scales, 62 ), Lopes, Grace; Gannon, O’Neill, Towell (Noonan, 72 ), Kavanagh (Kavanagh, 79 ); Watts, Burke; Gaffney (Greene, 72 ).
Galway United: Kearns; Horgan, Nugent, Gorman, Walsh; Boylan, Murphy (O'Dea, 32 ), Rowe (Cunningham, 72 ); Place (Kelly, 81 ), Waweru (Oluwa, HT ), Keating.
Referee: Robert Hennessy.
