Shamrock Rovers 3 Dundalk 0
Shamrock Rovers put their Europa League humbling in Budapest on Thursday fully behind them to greatly boost their domestic title-retention aspirations in seeing off the challenge of Dundalk in clinical counter-attacking fashion at Tallaght Stadium.
Winning the top-of-the-table clash moves Stephen Bradley’s side seven points clear at the summit, with a game in hand, and well on course for three-in-a-row, extending their record total to 20.
Showing little sign of travel fatigue, Rovers should have been ahead after just 40 seconds, Lee Grace’s diagonal ball from the left catching Dundalk square at the back.
Skipper Ronan Finn found a pocket of space, doing well to control the ball on his chest, only to balloon his half volley way over Nathan Shepperd’s crossbar.
Dundalk had very much come to play, John Martin glancing a header off target from Steven Bradley’s cross in their first attack on five minutes.
And though the Louth side enjoyed a period in which they penned Rovers deep in their own half, they were badly undone on the counter on 13 minutes.
Right-back Lewis Macari was caught out of position as an attack broke down. Alert to the transition, Dan Cleary played the ball down the left for the run of Rory Gaffney.
While Robbie McCourt attempted to cover, the centre-back simply hadn’t the legs for the Hoops striker who knocked the ball past him to gallop away, draw Shepperd from his line, and lay it on a plate for Aaron Greene to score with a composed finish.
Proving a right handful, Gaffney worked Shepperd nine minutes later with a low shot on the turn after displaying his ball juggling skills in the area. Shepperd then dove full stretch to clasp the Rovers front-runner’s header from a Richie Towell cross.
A pivotal moment in the game then arrived on 34 minutes when Dundalk went from thinking they had equalised to finding themselves two goals down.
Martin raced past Cleary to shoot beyond Alan Mannus only to be pulled back by referee Rob Harvey for a tug on the Rovers defender.
Cleary promptly sent the free kick over the top for the run of Greene who whipped a low cross to the far post for ex-Dundalk midfielder Towell to volley home before receiving a yellow card for celebrating in front of the travelling fans.
Dundalk finished the half on the front foot with Rovers defending doggedly; Mannus saving twice while hooped shirts put their bodies on the line to thwart a sustained onslaught on their goal.
And though Gary O’Neill fluffed a real chance to extend Rovers’ lead nine minutes into the second half, Dundalk thought they were back in the game on 64 minutes but for the brilliance of Mannus.
Substitute Keith Ward’s free kick looked destined for the top corner only for the veteran ex-Northern Ireland keeper to somehow touch it away.
Three minutes later Dundalk were undone once more from another blistering counter.
Greene used his pace again to race away on the left to square the ball for Gaffney to drill his shot to the corner of the net, just reward for another hard-running display.
An inspired Mannus then had the final say over the final minutes with a string of terrific saves in tipping Robbie Benson’s drive round a post before thwarting Ward again and then David McMillan at the death.
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Hoare, Cleary (Ferizaj, 79), Grace; O’Neill, Towell; Finn (Farrugia, 59), Watts (Kavanagh, 68), Lyons; Greene (Byrne, 68), Gaffney (Emakhu, 69).
Dundalk: Shepperd; Macari, Bone, McCourt (Ward, 26), Leahy (Mountney, 73); Lewis, Sloggett (Adams, 64); Benson, Bradley, O’Kane (Hauge, h-t); Martin (McMillan, 64).
Referee: Rob Harvey (Dublin).
Attendance: 5,525
