Stephen Bradley: 'It could have been six of seven - and one of those results is coming.'

Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley praised his young players for trusting their instincts to battle from behind to earn a comprehensive 3-1 win over Wexford Youths in Tallaght.

The Hoops – who lost the EA Sports Cup semi-final to St Patrick's Athletic and away to Sligo Rovers in the league last week – fell behind to an early Danny Furlong penalty.

The home side never looked like panicking, however, and soon took the lead through a quickfire double from Gary McCabe and Brandon Miele, before Sean Boyd added a third after the break.

And it wasn't so much the scoreline as the manner of the victory that pleased Bradley, who's been trying to introduce a more attacking style since taking the job from Pat Fenlon on a caretaker basis.

“They gave the goal away against the run of play, but it was good of the boys not to panic and lose sight of things we're trying to do, like keep the ball and make them work,” Bradley told Extratime.ie after the game.

“I knew what we had on the pitch if we just moved the ball and kept creating space and getting in good areas and keep moving the ball around, it'd open up eventually. And it did.

“There were some great goals and it could have been a lot more.

“It's easy then to come here [after losing in Sligo] and panic and go long and hope you get something.

“We believed in each other and believed in what we're doing. We kept the ball on the ground and moved it quickly and it opened up in the end.”

While the concession of an early goal under the previous management would likely have heralded a difficult game – Rovers didn't win a single game from a losing position under Fenlon in 2016 – the 3-1 scoreline understated the Hoops' dominance on the night.

“It could have been six or 7-1. One of them results is coming the way we're creating chances, but the boys need to settle down in front of goal and relax.

“Because it could be a 1-1 game and them chances come – you need to get into good habits of hitting the target and finishing the chances.”

Bradley went with an unorthodox 3-5-2 formation for the third league game in succession, a tactic he explained is designed to get more players in attacking positions where they can overwhelm defenders.

“It's just trying to create something different that we can get players in little half-spaces that opponents find it very difficult to pick up.

“A lot of our opponents are used to playing directly against someone, so it's easy to play against.

“We're trying to get players in little half-spaces and pockets that it's harder to pick up and play against. When it's done right, it works really well. We're still not 100% on it but we're getting there.”

Bradley praised Youths for their bravery in playing two up front away from home, and it paid off early on as Paul Murphy won the penalty that Furlong dispatched to give them a shock lead.

“They were brave. They went for it at the start, but I knew they would because the two boys up top are good players.

“They play off each other well and they're clever so I knew they'd have a go with them two. There were a few shaky moments at the start but the three boys settled down and dealt with it well.”

Bradley was visibly incensed by what he felt was an attempt by the Wexford bench to have Boyd sent off for a late tackle in the first half, but he was pleased by the striker's overall contribution.

The 18-year-old scored his second goal in as many games to seal the win, and Bradley revealed he's been playing with the help of a brace to hold in place a dislocated shoulder sustained against Sligo.

And he was complimentary too of Brandon Miele, the Extratime.ie player of the match and scorer of the second goal, who has shown glimpses of returning to his sparkling form of last season.

“Brandon has worked really hard the past few weeks to try and get himself back in the goals and he is now finally starting to get them.

“When Brandon plays like he did tonight, in terms of driving at players and has good energy on the ball, there's nobody in the league that can touch him.

“He's so dynamic in possession – he can go either left or right and he can shoot off both feet, so he's very hard to play against.”

Bradley opted not to use Killian Brennan off the bench following his injury lay-off, though there was good news on the defensive front as Evan Osam is close to making a return after missing the entire season with a knee injury.

“He's probably two or three weeks away now. He was training with us yesterday morning and he was excellent. He's the first in training and he's the last out – he's working his socks off, which is great to see.”