Roberto Lopes says Friday night’s derby win over St Patrick’s Athletic was as much like a boxing match as a football match.
The Shamrock Rovers defender won man of the match for a star display in the middle of the Hoops’ back three and played a key role in the winning goal.
It was the Crumlin man who won possession in his own half to kick off the move that saw Danny Mandroiu cross for Rory Gaffney to break the deadlock.
A tight first half saw just the one half-chance for either side, but it opened up considerably after Rovers broke the deadlock six minutes into the second half.
And Lopes, who helped Cape Verde to the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon in January, says the tension and tactical battle brought to mind the art of the squared circle.
“It had a bit of a derby feel at the start. We were just feeling each other out, it was like a boxing match,” says Lopes.
“The game opened up a little bit in the second half and we felt that we raised our levels and really push for a goal, we’d get one.
“You seen it with Danny’s bit of magic with the ball in and Rory is in the right spot to finish it. And after that it was just showing our resilience and being dogged and trying to earn a clean sheet.
“We had a couple opportunities to counter attack and make the scoreline a bit more favourable in our favour. But the most important thing was the clean sheet and we limited Pat’s to very few chances which was pleasing to see.”
Rovers haven’t been at their free-scoring best this season - 16 goals in ten games is the same as league leaders Derry City but not what they’ve come to expect.
Now that he’s fully fit - he had to manage his minutes in the early part of the season after coming back from Cameroon - Lopes is confident clean sheets will bring the results.
With Dundalk visiting Tallaght on Monday night - the sides played out a scoreless draw in Oriel Park already - the margins are bound to be tight.
He says: “We have enough quality that we will score through a bit of magic by the attacking players or a set-piece, because our set-pieces are really good.
“We probably should be scoring more. It’s our emphasis. If we get a clean sheet, we should be able to nick it. And the clean sheet isn’t just the defenders,
“It starts from the attackers, they work so hard to press defenders into mistakes. They make our job as a team a bit easier when you have players ahead working extremely hard.
“Then obviously you have to defend well and big Al had one or two saves to make last night but he made them look really easy.
“The team know if we keep the opponent to zero, we always have a chance of winning the game.”
