The senior A team made the short journey to Shamrock Park tonight to take on title chasing Shamrock Celtic. The last time the sides met was in the first game of the season when Shamrock Celtic ran out comfortable 6-2 winners, so this was another test to see how far the lads have come. The opening few minutes were cagey enough with both sides feeling each other out. Eight minutes in the home side went in front when Luca Rampersaud evaded the Rovers defence to fire home. Rovers kept their cool as they went in search of an equaliser. They controlled the game in the possession stakes pushing the home side back without seriously testing the keeper. To their credit they were creating half chances but couldn't test the keeper. It was no surprise when Rovers did deservingly equalise. On thirty five minutes a long free kick into the Shamrock area saw Lorcan Sinnott nip in to level things. The sides went in at the break all square at 1-1. The second half saw Rovers on the front foot with Bryan Doyle and Tommy Smullen controlling the middle of the park. Two minutes into the second half Oussama Kemouche wriggled his way through the home defence but his shot was straight at the keeper. Three minutes later Lorcan Sinnott saw his fierce shot well saved by the keeper. In the fifty sixth minute Rovers won a corner, Bryan Doyle swung in the resulting corner and Davy O'Sullivan came in at the front post to head home to put Rovers in front. Five minutes later Rovers doubled their lead when Lorcan Sinnott fired home a sweet strike for his second of the game. Rovers were denied a fourth when the home keeper saved well from a fierce Davy O'Sullivan effort from a narrow angle. The last ten minutes saw the home team have their best period of play in the game with James Kavanagh making two good saves in the space of a couple of minutes. With the last kick of the game the home team nabbed their second. The final whistle went on the tip off to see Rovers run out deserving 3-2 winners on the night. There were a lot of impressive performances around the pitch for Rovers. Young Ben Algera was outstanding at the centre of the Rovers rearguard, Oussama Kemouche and Daniel Tarcevskis were a handful once again on the flanks, Lorcan Sinnott worked tirelessly up front and weighed in with two good finishes especially the second one which was a sweet strike. The experience of Davy O'Sullivan when introduced was vital as his speed up front was keeping the home defence on their toes. In the middle of the park, the combination of Bryan Doyle and Tommy Smullen were excellent as they controlled the game for large periods. It was an excellent all round team performance from the lads and on the night Tommy Smullen has to be singled out for the man of the match accolade. He kept the Rovers engine room ticking over, excellent in all Rovers attacking moves while breaking up the home teams forward movements before they got near the danger zone. Some of his passes were sublime and he never panicked when on the ball. Big thanks to Shamrock Celtic for a good sporting game.