Shamrock Rovers 0 Dundalk 3
With the finishing line in sight, results, and not performances, are the sole priority for Dundalk so you could fully understand if The Lilywhites arrived in Tallaght content to eke out a narrow win on Friday night.
The DNA of Stephen Kenny’s side, however, doesn’t lend itself to scrapping things out. Instead, they completely steamrolled Shamrock Rovers to take another huge step towards their third league title on the trot.
With just four games to go, Dundalk hold a four point lead over Cork City and, on the evidence of the past week, it will take a Devon Loch style collapse for the league title to head south.
Kick-off was delayed slightly after the Rovers supporters lit a number of flares in the east stand when the teams made their way onto the pitch. When the smoke cleared, it was Dundalk who lit the place up.
The visitors completely dominated the first-half with poor finishing the only reason they didn’t take a lead going into the break.
The most clear cut chance arrived in the 19th minute when the prominent David McMillan got up above Simon Madden to knock a John Mountney cross into the path of Patrick McEleney but the Derry man blazed over from six-yards.
Apart from a suspected hamstring injury which saw his captain, Stephen O’Donnell, limp off in the 13th minute, Kenny’s only concern at the break was that a host of missed chances would haunt his side after the break.
Rovers, though, who knew that a positive result would guarantee European football next season, failed to land a glove on their opponents with a couple of meaty challenges before the break the highlight of an otherwise poor showing.
The sides met three weeks earlier at Oriel Park when Brian Gartland secured Dundalk a point and the big defender popped up with yet another vital goal here in the 53rd minute.
Barry Murphy did well to tip a Daryl Horgan piledriver over the top and Dundalk made the breakthrough from the subsequent corner when Gartland prodded home after the Rovers goalkeeper parried his original header.
If the first goal was scruffy, the second, nine minutes later, was sublime. Gratland again was involved, stylishly taking a Mountney pass under control before scooping the ball over the Rovers backline for substitute Ciaran Kilduff. His return ball across goal took Murphy out of things, allowing Dane Massey to tap into an empty net.
Kilduff was Dundalk’s hero in Tallaght two weeks ago when he scored the winner against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa League and he hit the same net again to put the result to bed.
David O’Connor was caught in possession by Mountney and Ronan Finn took control, switching the ball inside for Kilduff to find the bottom corner with a scuffed left footed finish to leave the travelling support singing in the rain and dreaming of another league title.
Shamrock Rovers: Murphy; Madden, O'Connor, Heaney, T Clarke; Webster, McCabe; D Clarke (Kiely 62), Shaw, Miele (Doona 65); Boyd.
Dundalk: Sava; Keane, Gartland, Boyle, Massey; Finn, O'Donnell (Shields 13); Mountney, McEleney (Shiels 77), Horgan; McMillan (Kilduff 55).
Referee: Paul McLaughlin.
