Shamrock Rovers have banned the two supporters who detonated fireworks in the 15th minute of last night's game against Waterford at the RSC. In a statement this morning, the club confirmed the two people who disrupted last night's match had been arrested and now face indefinite bans from Rovers home matches.
It was an act of brazen stupidity that could have caused serious injury that also marred Rovers 3-1 victory.
RTÉ tweeted a video of the fireworks exploding last night. The longer LOI TV footage really captures how frightening the incident was.
The club issued the following statement this morning:
"Shamrock Rovers F.C. unequivocally condemns the actions of two ‘so called’ supporters whose actions caused disruption at last night’s league game at the RSC in Waterford.”
“The two individuals were arrested by Gardai at the scene and taken from the ground. The club will cooperate fully with the Gardai on any follow-up matters and will also be issuing indefinite bans from attending Tallaght Stadium to the people concerned.
“It is regrettable that the actions of two individuals caused reputational damage to the club and was not reflective of the atmosphere and support from the large away crowd of over 350 Hoops fans who supported the team throughout, enjoying a 3-1 away win.”
For what it's worth, Waterford manager Marc Bircham said the incident had no bearing on the final result.
"Not at all. No, that’s not an issue. Fireworks on the pitch it was a bit dangerous but did it affect us on set-pieces?" he said.
He was sensationally critical of his own players in his post-match comments:
"We don’t deserve to stay up, if we defend set-pieces like that we don’t deserve to be in the league.
"From the 91st minute in the Derry game, we’ve let three of the worst set-pieces in that I can see. We let another corner in tonight and a wide free-kick where someone’s headed it in the middle of our box and no-one’s made contact.
"They know their jobs, the players know who they are, those that have let us down. The players have let a lot of the team down in the last two games and if we defend set-pieces like that we don’t deserve to be in the league.
"It’s disgusting, they’re not doing their jobs. When it comes to the pressure time of the season they’re not doing their jobs, so it doesn’t matter how well we play."
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