LEAGUE OF IRELAND Dundalk 3 Galway United 0 -DUNDALK CONSOLIDATED their top-five position in the Premier Division with a fully deserved victory at Oriel Park last night.

Seán Connor’s side were well worth their victory, dispelling any notions of a betting irregularity on the outcome of the encounter.

The rumours were enough to worry the FAI, and Fran Gavin was dispatched to keep a close eye on affairs on the pitch.

What he saw was another impressive showing from the home side. The Lilywhites battered the Galway goal at times, and but for the heroics of Barry Ryan the winning margin could have been substantially more.

Dundalk created the bulk of the opportunities in a lacklustre first-half with Michael Daly and Alex Williams both denied by good saves from Ryan.

Galway showed small glimpses of quality on the break.

Alan Murphy was unlucky not to pick out the unmarked Vinny Faherty in the 25th minute, and it it was his corner that found the head of Garry Breen eight minutes earlier but the big centre-half misdirected his header.

In keeping with recent weeks, Dundalk exploded out of the traps in the second half.

Ryan denied McGowan twice in quick succession with world-class saves, but he was helpless to stop Williams tapping home in the 48th minute.

Williams saw a header smack off the crossbar and Seamus Conneely also cracked his own upright from a McGowan cross as the Louth outfit sought to put the result to bed.

It took them until the 83rd minute to make the game safe when McGowan fired home a fine solo effort.

Darren Mansaram completed the scoring with a late header.

DUNDALK:Cherrie; Shaun Kelly, Burns, Heary, Murphy (Simon Kelly, 86 mins); McGowan, Daly, Turner, McKinlay; Rowe (Mansaram, 73 mins), Williams (Mulvenna, 80 mins).

GALWAY UNITED:Ryan, Sinnott, Conneely, Breen, O'Toole; Cook, Kelly (Greene, 55 mins), Russell, McBride; Faherty, Murphy.

Referee:Damien Hancock (Dublin).