ROVERS' POWER CUT

Hoops lack the spark to get title job finally done as old boy Simon wins it for Saints

- BY MARK MCCADDEN

A MONTH is an excruciatingly long time in football when you are waiting to upgrade from champions-elect to the real thing.

But that's where Shamrock Rovers find themselves right now, as another opportunity to seal the Premier Division title has passed them by - courtesy of former Hoops winger Simon Power.

When they travel to Derry tomorrow week, a full calendar month will have passed since they almost wrapped things up with a win against Bohemians.

On that occasion Danny Mullen's equaliser for the Candystripes away to Drogheda United kept his side clinging on in what was no longer viewed as a title race.

It still isn't. Unless, of course, you are a Derry fan whose optimism levels rival those of Heimir 'glass-half-full' Hallgrimsson. In fairness to Hallgrimsson, Ireland's prospects of making the World Cup are much stronger than the Brandywell side's chances of winning the league.

Even if they do pick up three points against the Hoops in eight days' time, Rovers still have two home games left - against Galway United and Sligo Rovers - to claim the point they need for title number five in the last six seasons.