A FIRST-HALF PENALTY miss from Patrick Hoban ultimately proved costly for Dundalk as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds this afternoon.

With five points between the sides in the Premier Division table before kick-off, the Connacht club cut that margin to two thanks to a superb second half brought that them to a 3-0 lead with 25 minutes to play.

Regan Donelan, Ryan de Vries and Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe all hit the net for for the Bit O’ Red in between spot kicks for Dunalk.

Donelan gave Sligo the cushion of  an early lead with an expertly-placed free kick from just outside the area after 13 minutes and Rovers held that advantage through half-time thanks to Edward McGinty’s 35th-minute penalty save.

Although the reigning champions dominated for long periods of the first-half, they were unable to make the advantage count. Their best chance of the first half came just after the half hour when defender Teemu Penninkangas was penalised for handball. Referee Robert Hennessy pointed to the spot in the 35th minute, but Hoban was unable to capitalise as his penalty was saved McGinty.

Sligo, on the other hand, made the most of their opportunities, DeVries doubled the lead by rounding off a superb move involving David Cawley and Ronan Coughlan in the 50th minute.

And the game was put beyond Dundalk when Ogede-Uzokwe headed in his first Sligo goal.

The visitors were awarded a second penalty with 14 minutes to play and Stefan Colovic got his side off the mark, but it was not enough to kick-start a comeback.