Dundalk 1
Shamrock Rovers 0
Niall Newberry reports from Oriel Park
TEN-MAN DUNDALK have dumped Shamrock Rovers out of the FAI Cup, with the Lilywhites digging out a 1-0 win to take their place in Tuesday’s last-16 draw.
A first-ever career goal from defender Hayden Muller in the first half proved decisive, despite Dundalk ending up having to play well over an hour of this contest with 10 players, after Paul Doyle was dismissed for a second bookable offence on 31 minutes.
Having lost Rory Gaffney through injury after just five minutes of play, Rovers created the game’s first chance soon after, with Graham Burke firing over from outside the area.
Dundalk’s first opening came on nine minutes, when, after receiving Doyle’s pass, Johannes Yli-Kokko turned Lee Grace inside out before curling just wide of the mark.
A neat passage of play from Rovers ended with Dylan Watts collecting a Sean Kavanagh pass before taking a touch just outside the box and firing straight at Nathan Shepperd.
Then, a contender for miss of the season by Johnny Kenny. Burke’s flick set it up for the substitute to lift over the advancing Shepperd, but his effort bounced off the crossbar before he incomprehensibly headed off target on the rebound with the goal at his mercy.
A lovely exchange at the opposite end between Robbie McCourt and John Martin saw the former have his right-angled effort kept out by the feet of the returning Alan Mannus.
Dundalk took the lead from the resultant corner, however; Ryan O’Kane’s delivery from the right broke to Muller, who rifled through Mannus to make it 1-0 after 23 minutes.
Looking for a response, Rovers had a chance to equalise through Kenny, who had been slipped in by an incisive Burke pass, but Shepperd got out quickly to deny the frontman.
The Lilywhites were reduced to 10 players just past the half-hour mark, when Doyle, who had earlier been booked for a foul on Burke, hauled down Aaron Greene, giving referee Robert Harvey little option but to issue a second yellow card to the Dundalk midfielder.
Stephen O’Donnell’s team had to play at least an hour of football with a numerical disadvantage and faced an inevitable siege from Rovers after that red card.
Kenny hooked one over from close range, not long before Burke hit a shot straight at Shepperd as a result of Darragh Leahy coughing up possession in a dangerous position.
Just before the half-whistle had blown, a cross from ex-Dundalk man Sean Hoare was headed over by Kenny, with the hosts going into the break with their lead still intact.
Moments after the second half had started, Kenny raced through on goal before being denied by Shepperd, with Burke then looking a cert to level after the ball broke to him on the rebound, only for Leahy to superbly clear off the line with a header to keep it at 1-0.
Rovers had another huge chance after a Watts corner from the left was headed off the post by Hoare before Shepperd brilliantly tipped over the bar from Grace’s follow-up attempt, with the Oriel Park crowd roaring as if the Welsh stopper had just scored a goal.
To their credit, Dundalk limited Rovers to mostly half-chances after those scares; Hoare dragged a shot miles wide before a Watts deflected effort failed to trouble Shepperd.
Burke headed wide at the back post from Burt’s left-field cross, before a Watts corner from the other side was met by the head of Grace, but was easily gathered by Shepperd.
The Lilywhites had to withstand seven minutes of stoppage-time at the end of this tie, but errant attempts late on from Burt and Watts was as good as it got for the Hoops.
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Hayden Muller, Andy Boyle, Darragh Leahy; Archie Davies, Alfie Lewis (Greg Sloggett 64), Paul Doyle, Robbie McCourt (Darren Brownlie 86); Johannes Yli-Kokko (Connor Malley 86), John Martin (Daniel Kelly 72), Ryan O’Kane (Cameron Elliott 86).
Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Daniel Cleary, Roberto Lopes, Lee Grace; Sean Hoare (Liam Burt 66), Dylan Watts, Gary O’Neill (Najemedine Razi 80), Sean Kavanagh (Richie Towell 80); Graham Burke, Rory Gaffney (Johnny Kenny 5), Aaron Greene.
Referee: Robert Harvey
Attendance: 2,686