Dundalk 1 Cork City 0
Substitute Georgie Kelly was the toast of Oriel Park as Dundalk took a huge step towards another SSE Airtricity League title with a 1-0 win over old rivals Cork City.
Neale Fenn’s side kept Dundalk at bay until the 78th minute when Kelly darted to the near post to turn Sean Gannon’s cross past Tadgh Ryan and hit the back of the net with his first touch.
The result lifts Dundalk 10 points clear of Shamrock Rovers at the top of the table and if Vinny Perth’s side beat Waterford in their next league game on September 20th and follow that with a win against the Hoops at Oriel Park three days later, they will be champions again.
Coming into the game on the back of six straight wins, Dundalk started on the front foot with Patrick Hoban having the first sight of goal but he couldn’t keep his effort down.
Cork did fashion a good opening of their own in the 10th minute when Shane Griffin’s cross from the left found Eoghan Stokes just outside the six-yard box but Andy Boyle did enough and the ball deflected over the top.
Tadgh Ryan was once again given the nod by Fenn to start between the posts but the 22-year-old was almost left embarrassed just shy of the half-hour when Gannon’s cross deflected off Shane Griffin, hopped off the artificial surface and looped over his head. Thankfully for Ryan, Dan Casey was there to mop up.
Perth’s side upped the tempo in the early stages of the second half, pinning the Rebels back for long spells, and Hoban saw a vicious low drive fly across the face of goal before Casey made a good block to charge down Robbie Benson’s powerful hit.
Dean Jarvis sent a dipping volley over the bar on the hour and Patrick McEleney was denied on two occasions, once by Ryan, who made a fine stop as Cork defended as if their lives depended on it.
They finally buckled with 12 minutes to go. McEleney’s sweeping ball to the right found Gannon and his delivery across the face of goal found Kelly who did enough to score his seventh goal of the season and condemn Fenn to his third straight defeat since taking over in the Cork hot seat.
DUNDALK: Rogers; Gannon, Cleary, Boyle, Jarvis; Shields, Benson (D Kelly 67); McGrath (G Kelly 77), McEleney, Duffy; Hoban (Dummigan 85).
CORK CITY: Ryan; Horgan, McCarthy, Casey, Hurley; McCormack, Byrne; O'Connor (Crowley 86), Stokes (O'Brien Whitmarsh 83), Griffin, O'Sullivan.
Referee: Ben Connolly.
Attendance: 2837.
Finn Harps 1 St Patrick’s Athletic 2
New St Patrick’s Athletic boss Stephen O’Donnell saw his side come from behind to beat Finn Harps at Finn Park and keep up their chances of a Europa League spot.
The Inchicore side, who had taken seven points off Harps in the three previous meetings this season, edged a tight first quarter with opportunities for Glen McAuley and Gary Shaw.
But Harps took the lead on 31 minutes when a long throw-in from Niall Logue caused problems in the visitors’ defence and Nathan Boyle pounced to stab the ball home from close range.
However, the Saints drew level on 56 minutes with Darragh Markey getting onto an Ian Bermingham cross and although his first effort was saved, he followed up quickly to find the target.
Disaster struck for the Donegal side on 66 minutes when Gareth Harkin’s wayward pass was intercepted by substitute Rhys McCabe who duly obliged as the tuck the ball beyond Mark Anthony McGinley to put St Pat’s ahead.
The crowd was swelled by the attendance of a number of former Harps’ players as part of the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Just over 50 years ago, Harps played their first senior game as a League of Ireland club, losing 10-2 to Shamrock Rovers in the long defunct Dublin City Cup.
Finn Harps: McGinley; Borg, Cowan, Todd, Logue, O'Reilly; Coyle, Ascroft, Harkin, Timlin; Boyle.
Substitutes: Cretaro for Harkin (71 mins), Place for Boyle (78 mins), McNamee for Borg (83).
St Patrick's Athletic: B. Clarke; Desmond, Webster, Kelly, Madden; Bermingham, Clifford, Markey, McAuley; D. Clarke, Shaw.
Substitutes: McCabe for Clifford (half-time), Forrester for Shaw (76 mins), Walker for McAuley (87 mins).
Referee: J. McLaughlin (Westmeath).
