League of Ireland round-up:St Patrick's Athletic regained top spot of the Premier Division on goal difference ahead of Dundalk as an early Paul Byrne strike earned all three points in a 1-0 win over the Louth club at Richmond Park.
St Pat’s took the lead on four minutes when Byrne netted his third league goal of the campaign. An Ian Bermingham cross was knocked down by Ryan Guy for Derek Doyle who saw his shot blocked by Dundalk ‘keeper Peter Cherrie.
The Dundalk defence failed to clear the ball and it fell neatly for Byrne who curled a crisp shot to Cherrie’s right and into the bottom corner of the net.
The home side had David McAllister sent off on 37 minutes for a straight red card after he reacted to a Stephen Maher foul that went unpunished by the referee.
Stephen Rice and Dan Murray scored their first goals of the season as Shamrock Rovers overcame Galway United 2-0 at Tallaght Stadium.
After a drab first half, Rovers were a goal up inside four minutes. Billy Dennehy swept over a superb corner from the right and midfielder Rice flung himself at the ball to score with a diving header.
And poor defending from another Dennehy corner effectively sealed Rovers’ win on 70 minutes as captain Murray was unchallenged to head home at the back post.
UCD recorded their biggest win of the season with an overwhelming 6-0 victory over bottom of the table Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds.
The margin of victory for Martin Russell’s team was a true reflection of the Students’ dominance. And against all the odds, last year’s First Division champions are now up to fifth place in the table after keeping a clean sheet for the fifth match in a row.
Drogheda put an end to a seven game losing streak with this well deserved 1-1 draw against high flying Sporting Fingal. However, based on their second half performance they’ll be disappointed they didn’t take all three points with a storming finish that saw them go close on several occasions to securing a winner.
Airtricity League Premier Division
Bray Wanderers 0-6 UCD
Drogheda Utd 1-1 Sporting Fingal
St Patrick's Ath 1-0 Dundalk
Shamrock Rvrs 2-0 Galway Utd
Airtricity League First Division
Finn Harps 2-3 Mervue Utd
Monaghan Utd 0-1 Derry City
Shelbourne 0-1 Waterford Utd
Wexford Youths 0-2 Cork City