Shamrock Rovers staged an impressive comeback and came out 4-1 winners over Waterford at the Regional Sports Centre tonight.

The visitors went behind, after Eric Molloy put the Deise men ahead early on.

A brace from Graham Burke along with goals from Rory Gaffney and Aaron Greene secured the three points for the Hoops.

The game got off to a great start as Waterford took the lead through Eric Molloy after six minutes. A great piece of play saw Molloy go through on goal from the left. He tried to place the ball into the far and saw it deflected in off a Rovers body leaving Alan Mannus stranded.

Both sides struggled to test either ‘keeper up until the 13th minute when Rovers were awarded a penalty. A cross into the box looked to have hit Jamie Mascoll’s hand. However, it could be argued that his hand was by his side. Graham Burke and dispatched the penalty calmly.

The tempo of the game fizzled out after the Hoops drew level. It seemed as if neither side could hit the target and this continued into half time.

It was the away side who came out of the blocks firing in the second half as they took the lead through Gaffney in the 48th minute. Cameron Evans botched what looked like a simple clearance allowing his opponent to latch onto the ball and apply the finish.

Minutes after being booked, Burke added his second. The Waterford defence collapsed leaving him with an easy finish as he put his side 3-1 up in the 61st minute.

The fourth goal was added in the 68th minute through Greene. The home side’s defence once again were at sixes and sevens and a pass across the box gave him the opportunity for an easy finish which a player of his standard is never going to miss.

Marc Bircham will be disappointed that his side could not hold on and at least get a draw considering their performance against Dundalk last week.

Stephen Bradley on the other hand will be delighted with his side’s second half performance. They really showed us why they were champions last season.