Dundalk 2
Shamrock Rovers 0
Niall Newberry reports from Oriel Park
DUNDALK DESERVEDLY DEFEATED defending league champions Shamrock Rovers 2-0 tonight, with The Hoops having their lead at the summit cut to just four points.
Chances were at a premium throughout, but few could argue Dundalk didn’t deserve the three points which moves them to within touching distance of second place in the SSE Airtricity League table, whilst formulating a gap between themselves and fifth.
It took 74 minutes for the deadlock to be broken, but it was worth the wait, with Louie Annesley’s screamer preceding Patrick Hoban’s 145th goal for the club on 77 minutes.
Dundalk started brightly, but despite looking the far hungrier of the sides throughout what was a cagey opening half, failed to pack any real punch on the league leaders.
In fact, it was Rovers who very nearly self-destructed on 21 minutes, when a mix-up between Leon Pohls and Sean Hoare resulted in the latter almost heading into his own net, but luckily for the ex-Dundalk defender, he was just about able to catch up and clear.
Rovers thought they broke the deadlock on 33 minutes, as Johnny Kenny all too easily cut inside Darragh Leahy with Nathan Shepperd fumbling the subsequent attempt before Sean Gannon tapped into an empty net, only to have the goal ruled out for offside.
The only other noteworthy act of the first half saw Hayden Muller’s long ball from the far end of the pitch planted miles off target by the head of Dundalk skipper Hoban.
The second half was similar to the first in the sense of while there was no shortage of bite from both teams, particularly Dundalk, chances at either end were few and far between.
Cleary fired a shot wide for Rovers on 64 minutes, while danger-man Rory Gaffney curled an effort inches wide moments after being introduced from the substitutes’ bench.
Dundalk took lead on 74 minutes, courtesy of a superb goal from defender Annesley, who picked the ball up inside his own half before it was returned to him by Keith Ward, and the Gibraltar international then teased Cleary before firing right into the top corner.
Oriel was bouncing at this point, and it completely erupted three minutes later, with Ward’s set-piece being headed home by Hoban, who got in between Hoare and Cleary.
Greg Sloggett fired over from distance as Dundalk sought a third, while at the other end, Shepperd saved from Graham Burke late on as The Lilywhites held out for a 2-0 victory.
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Hayden Muller, Louie Annesley, Darragh Leahy; Archie Davies, Greg Sloggett, Connor Malley, Robbie McCourt (Paul Doyle 86); Johannes Yli-Kokko (Keith Ward 72), Patrick Hoban (John Martin 86), Daniel Kelly (Ryan O’Kane 90+1).
Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pohls; Daniel Cleary, Roberto Lopes, Sean Hoare; Sean Gannon, Dylan Watts, Markus Poom, Sean Kavanagh; Richie Towell (Liam Burt 71), Johnny Kenny (Rory Gaffney 62), Aaron Greene (Graham Burke 71).
Referee: Paul McLaughlin
Attendance: 3,156