Goalkeeper
Ciaran Gallagher (Finn Harps) – Lost his place in the Finn Harps team due to work commitments but got back in two weeks ago and made sure of his first clean sheet in the Premier Division — saving an injury-time penalty from Anto Murphy.
Defenders
Alan McNally (Bray Wanderers) – The Seagulls defender, who was presented with an award for reaching 450 League of Ireland appearance this week, may have been on the losing side but he put in an impressive performance — making an excellent goal-line clearance just after half-time.
Alan Bennett (Cork City) – Ex-Ireland international Bennett marshalled the Cork backline confidently alongside John Dunleavy as the Leesiders recorded a clean sheet at the Carlisle Grounds.
Sean Gannon (Dundalk) – Almost opened the scoring when his shot went just wide of Conor Winn’s post, but the Lilywhites full-back will have been happy with his performance on Friday night.
Midfield
Conor McCormack (Derry City) – The 25-year-old demonstrated epitomised Derry’s pressing game with his determined all-action style as they overcame his former club at Richmond Park.
Chris Shields (Dundalk ) – Back in the team with captain Stephen O’Donnell and Patrick McEleney unavailable, the Oriel Park favourite put in arguably his best showing of the campaign thus far against the Tribesmen.
Barry McNamee (Derry City) – McNamee tested Brendan Clarke on a number of occasions before he eventually got his goal by cleverly engineering space in the box to slide in the deciding strike in Inchicore.
Paddy Kavanagh (Bohemians) – The winger came as close as anyone to scoring on the night before the late penalty drama. Aside from that, Kavanagh was productive on the ball as Bohs sought to break their scoring duck.
Forwards
David McMillan (Dundalk) – In the absence of Ciaran Kilduff, the onus was on McMillan and duly delivered – his first goal was a poacher’s effort, his second an opportunistic strike from long range.
Raffaele Cretaro (Sligo Rovers) – The Sligo native is in excellent form and looks like a man ten years younger on the pitch. At 34, he played a crucial part in Rovers’ defeat of Wexford Youths, and certainly should have scored more than one on the night.
Sean Maguire (Cork City) - The Ireland U21 international worked hard with team-mate Karl Sheppeard in the Cork attack and opened the scoring in the win over Bray with a right-footed drive in the second half.
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