Dundalk 5
Cork City 0
Niall Newberry reports from Oriel Park
THE ROT HAS finally stopped for Dundalk tonight after they recorded a comprehensive 5-0 win over Cork City in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
Hayden Muller headed The Lilywhites in front before the 20-minute mark, while Daryl Horgan’s brace had put Stephen O’Donnell’s team into a 3-0 lead at the half-time break.
Sam Durrant first goal in senior football added to Cork’s misery in the second period, while John Martin completed the rout with just three minutes of normal time to play.
The result all but consigns Liam Buckley’s charges to a relegation play-off, while for Dundalk, their faint European hopes are kept alive with five fixtures left to complete.
Horgan was at the centre of everything the hosts created in the first half, and had the game’s first shot on six minutes, firing off target after finding himself in acres of space.
Not long after that, Dundalk’s number 15 found himself unchallenged from similar range, this time curling a mere inches wide of the post with Ollie Byrne at full stretch.
Indeed, Horgan was the source of Dundalk’s opener on 18 minutes – his free-kick from the left, dummied by Paul Doyle, was headed home at the back post by defender Muller.
And it was 2-0 after 27 minutes, with an attempted header back to goalkeeper Byrne from Conor Drinan falling straight into the path of Horgan, who subsequently fired home from close range to score his first league goal since returning to the club.
Horgan almost bagged his second and Dundalk’s third moments later, but his first-time hit veered off target after getting on the end of a drilled ball from full-back Archie Davies.
Durrant’s cross was hooked across goal by Doyle and back to Horgan, who finished to make it 3-0 on 33 minutes, via the aid of a deflection from Cork captain Cian Coleman.
Cork’s best chance of the opening half came when Ruairi Keating, who managed to get himself in ahead of Greg Sloggett, crashed an effort off the post before on the rebound, keeper Nathan Shepperd brilliantly denied Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh at point-blank range.
Early in the second half, Malik Dijksteel missed a good chance to pull one back for Cork, while at the opposite end, a Durrant cross was headed onto the bar by Patrick Hoban.
Shortly after that effort, Horgan’s set-piece from the right was headed over by Darren Brownlie, while a corner on the same side was then diverted off target by Martin.
Durrant was proving to be a menacing presence out on the left flank for Dundalk, and the ex-Sheffield Wednesday man forced a decent save out of Byrne when one-on-one.
Durrant did bag his first goal in Lilywhite colours on 55 minutes, weaving his way across a flurry of Cork adversaries before rippling the netting to make it 4-0 for the hosts.
Cameron Elliott almost added another off the bench, but saw his effort hit the post, while Jaze Kabia’s volley was saved by Shepperd, before Keating headed off the bar as Cork looked for what would have been nothing more than a consolation goal at the other end.
The Lilywhites compounded Cork’s misery on 87 minutes, however, with a pinpoint Davies cross gleefully headed home by Martin as Dundalk ended their losing streak.
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Archie Davies, Greg Sloggett, Darren Brownlie (Darragh Leahy 77), Hayden Muller; Johannes Yli-Kokko (Senan Mullen 77), Paul Doyle (Alfie Lewis 45); John Martin, Daryl Horgan (Ryan O’Kane 62), Sam Durrant; Patrick Hoban (Cameron Elliott 62).
Cork City: Ollie Byrne; Aaron Bolger, Cian Coleman, Ally Gilchrist, Conor Drinan (Josh Honohan 56); Ben Worman (Gordon Walker HT), Andriy Kravchuk (Oran Crowe 81); Cian Bargary, Joe O’Brien-Whitmarsh (Cian Murphy HT), Malik Dijksteel (Jaze Kabia 56); Ruairi Keating.
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
First Division Results
Wexford 2-0 Longford Town
Galway United 1-0 Finn Harps
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