Shamrock Rovers 1 Dundalk 0
Danny Mandroiu struck the all-important goal at Tallaght Stadium to give defending champions Shamrock Rovers their fourth win on the bounce in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
In front of a crowd of 5,532, Mandroiu fired home on 66 minutes to break the stubborn resistance offered up by a hard-working Dundalk side. This victory also extends their unbeaten top-flight run to seven games and keeps the heat up on fellow title challengers Derry City.
The Hoops were given an early scare in this game as Dundalk attacker Daniel Kelly headed against the crossbar off Keith Ward’s enticing set-piece delivery in the fourth minute.
While this was a let-off, Rovers largely dominated the remainder of the opening period. Dundalk netminder Nathan Shepperd was at full stretch to deny Sean Hoare on 11 minutes before Sean Gannon, Dylan Watts and Mandroiu all went close for the south Dubliners.
It was a relatively quiet half at the opposite end for Alan Mannus, but the veteran Hoops custodian was out quickly to turn away another Kelly opportunity with his feet on 37 minutes
Although the deadlock remained unbroken at the interval, there was a sense that it wasn’t going to stay this way for the full 90 minutes.
Rovers boss Stephen Bradley introduced Barry Cotter, Andy Lyons and Aidomo Emakhu off the bench just past the hour mark, but it was two of his starting players who ultimately carved Dundalk open. After racing away from Lilywhites skipper Brian Gartland off Jack Byrne’s precise through ball, the raiding Mandroiu made no mistake with a cool finish past the helpless Shepperd.
Emakhu and Mandroiu had opportunities to extend the Hoops’ lead, but with Dundalk losing Gartland to a second yellow card in the closing moments, they emerged with a deserved triumph in the end.
Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Hoare, Lopes, Grace; Gannon (Cotter 61), Watts (Towell 78), O’Neill, Farrugia (Lyons 61); Mandroiu, Byrne (McCann 84); Greene (Emakhu 61).
Dundalk: Shepperd; Macari, Connolly, Gartland, Leahy; Bone, Doyle (O’Kane, 79 mins); Sloggett (Hoban 71), Ward (McMillan 71), Adams (Bradley 61); Kelly (Martin 79).
Referee: R Matthews (Westmeath).