A KURTIS BYRNE goal was enough to hand Dundalk all three points at Richmond Park this evening, as they beat St Patrick’s Athletic 2-1.
Byrne made no mistake with his finish on the hour mark, after goalkeeper Brendan Clarke was caught dwelling on the ball in his own box.
Conan Byrne had only equalised seconds earlier for Pat’s, as he coolly slotted the ball into the net after being set up by Sean Gannon.
Five minutes before half-time, Dundalk had taken the lead through a John Dillon penalty, after Keith Ward was taken down in the box by Ger O’Brien.
And despite a late surge from the hosts, their opponents held on for victory.
Elsewhere, Shamrock Rovers could only manage a 1-1 draw against Limerick at Thomond Park.
Sean O’Connor put the Dublin side 1-0 up with an opportunistic finish after some hesitancy in the hosts’ defence after nine minutesHowever, Craig Curran equalised 20 minutes later, finishing with aplomb after he latched onto a long ball into the box.
There was further problems for Rovers just after half-time, as Ken Oman was sent off on 49 minutes for a second bookable offence for an infringement on Curran.
Yet despite being down to 10 men, the visitors still managed to create chances late on, and were unlucky not to find a winner, when O’Connor’s shot hit the woodwork.