ROVERS CEL BY DATE AN ISSUE NOW..

Slo' start goes on as Rovers fall short

- BY GARRY DOYLE

IF revenge is a dish best served cold then the weather Gods conspired to do Celje a favour.

A biting wind coupled with the cold provided the backdrop: a 2-1 defeat when the Slovenians visited Tallaght last year the context for this atonement mission.

Teams like Celje don't expect to lose to Irish sides. And managers like Albert Reira, with his fine CV and high self-regard, certainly don't like it. But last year they suffered that indignity here in Tallaght. And last night they got their revenge.

Celje looked a different team this time, largely because they are, as just one player survived last summer's defeat to start this game, two more making their bench. "We were babies then; we are adults now," said Reira.

They certainly played with a lot more authority than 15 months ago.

Operating off a 4-3-3 structure, Celje began with purpose, and a sign of their intent was visible inside two minutes when Franko Kovacevic tested Ed McGinty.