Watch: Trevor Clarke and Lee Grace sent off for Shamrock Rovers against Bohs as Corcoran nets after controversial penalty

An extraordinary first 45 minutes in Tallaght Stadium hasn’t lacked for action as Shamrock Rovers have been reduced to nine men and trail 1-0 to fierce rivals Bohemians.

Bohs were the only side to have beaten the Hoops in the league this season heading into the game after Dinny Corcoran netted from the spot in Phisboro in February.

Aaron Greene was sent off after half an hour that day and, once again, the Hoops were reduced to ten men for the final hour after Trevor Clarke saw red for fouling Danny Grant.

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The full-back tugged on winger Grant’s shirt as the Bohemians man raced in on goal and referee Paul McLaughlin took his time before producing a straight red card for preventing a goalscoring chance.

There was some contention about McLaughlin’s decision not to award the penalty as the contact looked to start outside the box before Grant fell inside.

It got doubly worse for the Hoops seven minutes later as Lee Grace was judged to have handled Keith Buckley’s shot in the box and was shown a second yellow.

This was also a source of contention as McLaughlin had no hesitation in awarding the penalty but replays suggest it may have hit the Rovers defender in the head.



From the resulting spot-kick, Alan Mannus got down to save Corcoran’s poorly-struck effort, but the Gypsies’ top scorer reacted first to turn home the rebound.