League Report: Dundalk 3 - 0 Sligo Rovers
Credit:
Dundalk made it five wins and five clean sheets from their opening five league matches with an impressive win over sluggish Sligo Rovers at Oriel Park on Friday in what was a very one-sided affair.
The game started evenly enough with both sides trying to find their feet and probing for weaknesses. Morten Nielsen’s quick ball control looked a threat for Sligo but he was confined to seeking the ball from deep thanks to a well drilled Lilywhite defence.
By the ten minute mark, Dundalk were starting to assert themselves. The first couple of attempts fell to the Lilywhites with a free-kick first from Dane Massey and then a Richie Towell effort from distance.
On 17 minutes a tantalising, looping ball played by Daryl Horgan from deep, dropped into David McMillan’s path at the edge of the box. With Sligo goalkeeper Ryan Coulter still to beat, McMillan had a bit of work to do, but he produced a lob of his own that was just out of Coulter’s reach that fell into the top right corner to net his fourth goal in three games.
Mid-way through the half Dundalk were nearly through again thanks to Horgan. His pass found his right-wing counterpart Darren Meenan who trapped the ball beautifully only for the linesman to deem him offside. It looked an incredibly tight call but the frustrations of the home support were soon forgotten when Richie Towell met a mis-clearance by Stephen Folan to neatly put the ball into the bottom right to make it 2-0.
Sligo had an opportunity to assert themselves on the game after the second goal as there was a noticeable slackening in the hosts’ pace following Towell’s strike. Worryingly from a Sligo perspective, they didn’t grasp this chance. Dundalk continued to comfortably pass it around the middle but without any final product.
The Bit O’Red, on the other hand, struggled to get their passing going and ceded possession much too easily in midfield. Chris Shields was an excellent ball winner for the Lilywhites while Ronan Finn’s footwork was a joy to watch.
Perhaps as a result of their inability to get going, a number of fouls crept into Rovers’ game. David Cawley was lucky to avoid a booking for a clumsy foul bundling Finn to the ground just before the half-hour mark.
Approaching half-time Dundalk were circling the Sligo net once again. McMillan managed to cut in from the left and saw his well struck shot fly into the side netting. Had it gone in it would surely have been game over.
Sligo were almost let in twice before half time, not due to their own ingenuity, but by errors in the Dundalk defence. On the 39th minute Andy Boyle, in his haste to rid the Dundalk box of a seemingly innocuous cross, kicked it off his own leg. The resulting ricochet had Neilsen and Raffaele Cretaro on alert but it was hoofed clear by Brian Gartland.
Minutes later, a rare first-half error from Dundalk ‘keeper Gary Rogers gifted Cretaro possession. He played Cawley through, only for his shot to go over the bar from the edge of the box.
Dundalk looked good for their money at half time and took up where they had left off in the second half. Sligo’s best opportunities came from counter attacks and capitalising on winning the ball high in midfield. Both rare occasions to Dundalk’s credit.
Coutler came to the rescue from a Towell freekick on the fifty minute mark. He pushed it out for a corner from which the Bit O’Red broke thanks to a Stephen Beattie tackle. Cretaro attempted a shot from distance that was in the end comfortably saved.
Some minutes later Cawley was shown yellow for taking down Massey about forty yards out and Stephen Foley joined him in the book for dissent. Massey hit the free kick himself and forced Coutler to save low and push it out for a corner. The next real opportunity for Sligo fell to Eoin Wearen on the edge of the box, but his effort was blocked by Towell.
With twenty minutes to go Sligo were coming into the game a bit more but their prodigal use of possession didn’t imply the urgency of a team trying to salvage a point. They might have at least aspired to become the first team to breach the Dundalk defence in the league this season, but the Lilywhites’ back four looked comfortable when called into action.
John Mountney replaced Meenan, who had been a constant threat, and his probing runs marked a renewed attempt to beat the Sligo defence that had tightened up in the final quarter. It started to feel like there was another goal coming for the Lilywhites.
It came in the 85th minute. McMillan found Finn on the right who danced his way towards the box and squared for Towell who had the simplest of finishes to make for his second goal and Dundalk’s third.
Sligo will have a lot of questions to ask themselves after this game as they remain without a league win this season. The champions meanwhile continue answering any questions asked of them with impressive results.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland, Andy Boyle (capt), Dane Massey; Chris Shields, Richie Towell; Darren Meenan (John Mountney 80), Ronan Finn, Daryl Horgan (Jake Kelly 88); David McMillan (Kurtis Byrne 86).
Subs not used: Gabriel Sava (gk), Shane Grimes, Paddy Barrett, Ciaran O’Connor.
Booked: None.
Sligo Rovers: Ryan Coulter; Alan Keane, Gavin Peers (capt), Stephen Folan, Jake Dykes; Raffaele Cretaro (Kevin Devaney 60), Eoin Wearen, David Cawley, Steven Beattie, Danny Ledwith (Dinny Corcoran 75); Morten Nielsen.
Subs not used: Ciaran Kelly (gk), Gary Boylan, Ryan McManus, Sandi Puri, Keith Ward.
Booked: David Cawley(55), Stephen Folan (59)
Referee: Graham Kelly
Attendance: 3,021
ExtraTime.ie Man of the Match: David McMillan (Dundalk)
