Dundalk 1 Sligo Rovers 0BOSNIAN striker Fahrudin Kuduzovic came back to haunt his old club at Oriel Park last night with his 56th-minute goal enough to give Dundalk victory over 10-man Sligo Rovers.
There looked to be nothing on for the home side when Ross Gaynor fired in a delivery from the left wing but Sligo skipper Danny Ventre delayed fatally on the ball, allowing Kuduzovic to seize possession and smash the ball home.
Dundalk lined up without the suspended Wayne Hatswell and Tom Miller, with the returning Stephen Maher and Irish schoolboy Nathan Murphy starting in their absence.
Sligo, who had boss Paul Cook serving a one-match ban in the stand, made two changes to the side who hammered Drogheda 6-0 last week, with Jason McCartney and Conor O’Grady replacing Iarflaith Davoren (hamstring) and John Russell.
Ther visitors’ plans were thrown into disarray in the 13th minute when Gary McCabe was sent off for clashing heads with Ross Gaynor just seconds after he picked up a booking for taking the Dundalk winger down.
Despite being down a man, it was Sligo who created the clear-cut chances. League top scorer Pádraig Amond saw a header cleared off the line by JJ Melligan, while Conor O’Grady had Peter Cherrie at full stretch to tip a vicious effort over the bar.
Eeven after Kuduzovic had put Dundalk in front, Sligo still had chances. Cherrie had to make two magnificent saves to deny John Russell and in the 84th minute Amond’s low drive was tipped on to the post by the Scottish goalkeeper.
DUNDALK: Cherrie; Kelly, G Breen, Burns, Murphy (McGuigan, 69 mins); Maher, Cawley; Kuduzovic (McGowan, 85 mins), Melligan, Gaynor; Fenn (J Breen, 76 mins).
SLIGO ROVERS: Brush; Keane, Peers, Ventre, McCartney (Foran HT); McCabe, OGrady (Russell, 65 mins), Ryan, Doyle (Blinkhorn, 59 mins); Amond, Ndo.
Referee: T Connolly (Dublin).
