Sligo Rovers 1
Dundalk 0
PAUL O’CONOR HAS more cup runners-up medals than he’d care to tell you about but he has also found a knack of popping up at the right time in these big games.
His deft flick clinched the Setanta Sports Cup for Sligo Rovers, the bright spot of a final washed out by the elements in Tallaght Stadium.
It is the sixth trophy in four years for the Bit O’Red but their first win in the struggling All-Ireland competition which will undergo a revamp before it enters its 10th year next season.
For Dundalk the long wait for a major trophy, which stretches back to the 2002 FAI Cup Final, continues. The expectant droves of Lilywhite fans, who made up the bulk of the 2,600 crowd, consoled themselves with chants of “We’re going to win the league” at the final whistle.
That remains to be seen but today belongs to Sligo, even if the driving rain and hail did the best to spoil the party.
When Ian Baraclough’s side won the FAI Cup Final in such dramatic circumstances last season it was O’Conor, playing for Drogheda, who opened the scoring.
That was one of three finals which he lost in a cruel run last season. Again today, the midfielder was first on the scoresheet.
Aaron Greene deserves huge credit for the manner in which he nipped by Dane Massey at the byline, and when he crossed low to the front post, O’Conor arrived on cue to deftly flick it past a helpless Peter Cherrie in the 13th minute.
Both of these sides enjoy a bit of a zip in the pitch (no jokes about Dundalk and a well-watered surface, please) but as the weather alternated between tropical and tempest in the first half, the conditions became more and more of a hinderance.
Baraclough, who changed out of his cup final suit into a tracksuit once the pre-match formalities were done, definitely had the right idea. If you’re going to get soaked, you might as well be comfortable.
On balance, Dundalk had the better chances in the first half. They could have taken the lead in the seventh minute but Daryl Horgan shot into the side-netting after he was played in by Richie Towell.
The lively Pat Hoban was a nuisance for Sligo’s centre-half pairing of Evan McMillan and Jeff Henderson, and he very nearly had Dundalk back on terms when he flashed a header just wide of Gary Rogers’ left post in the 21st minute.
Sligo’s cause wasn’t helped when they lost their experienced skipper Joseph Ndo to a calf injury in the 35th minute but they went in ahead at the break, though Hoban went close again with another header shortly before half-time.
Ndo’s replacement Danny Ledwith carved an opening for himself early in the second half but his shot was straight at Cherrie.
But Sligo’s brief from that point was clear. With Danny North alone up front, they kept men behind the ball and tried to pounce on the counter-attack, a difficult ask in the conditions.
Stephen Kenny introduced Kurtis Byrne for the final 25 minutes and he went achingly close to equalising in the 73rd minute, but his shot flew across the face of goal and just wide.
They had one more clear-cut chance before the finish and Byrne was involved again. He clipped a pass to sub David McMillan who tried to loft the ball over Rogers but was foiled by the keepers’ touch.
SLIGO ROVERS: Rogers, Conneely, McMillan, Henderson, Gaynor, Cawley, Ndo (c, Ledwith 35), O’Conor, Russell, Greene, North.
Substitutes: Brush, Spillane, Ledwith, Dykes, Djilali, Odhiambo, Maguire.
DUNDALK: Cherrie, Gannon, Gartland, Boyle (c), Massey, Shields (Higgins 74), Meenan (McMillan 80), Towell, Horgan, Mountney (Byrne 67), Hoban.
Substitutes: Sava, Byrne, Kelly, Rossiter, Higgins, Griffin, McMillan.
Referee: Arnold Hunter
