Dundalk 0 - 0 Shamrock Rovers

Stephen Kenny’s reign as Dundalk manager began on a positive note on Friday night with a 0-0 draw against his former club Shamrock Rovers in a game which saw Gary McCabe miss a penalty and Dane Massey dismissed for two yellow cards.

While the game ended up scoreless, the action was plentiful, but it will be the home side who were happier against the ante-post title favourites.

Indeed Dundalk started the game the brighter, O’Donnell almost finding Kurtis Byrne with a clipped ball from midfield. The first bit of action from a Hoops standpoint came when Gary McCabe’s ball evaded everyone in the box.

The first sight of goal came when Peter Cherrie failed to deal with Billy Dennehy’s header from a McCabe cross, while on seven minutes Ward nearly tested Murphy with a strike from range, the attempt going wide of the right hand post. Dundalk enjoyed good early possession and on 17 minutes, after a scrappy bit of play at the edge of the box, John Sullivan had his shot blocked out for a corner, which after being initially cleared by Pat Sullivan was swung back in by Byrne and Patrick Hoban forced Murphy into a smart save.

Midway through the first half, McCabe and Dennehy switched wings, the former giving the ball away cheaply to Dillon, but his pass had too much on it for Hoban. After 27 minutes, Dennehy almost brought a good spell of possession to a successful end when he drove his low shot just wide of Cherrie’s post, and just a minute later Kilduff latched on to Conor Powell’s cross, although the big striker should have done much better with the finish.  

Ward’s dangerous free kick forced a corner eight minutes before the interval and after Dillon took the ensuing kick both Richie Towell and O’Donnell would have expected better of themselves, both efforts not troubling Hoops keeper Murphy.

On the stroke of half time Dane Massey put a decent cross into the area, but no one gained considerable contact on the ball, which summed up the first half of this season opener.  

The second half began much like the first, neither side making inroads offensively. That was until a Dundalk free kick was headed across goal, and Derek Foran, returning to his old stomping ground made a last ditch clearance, with the Lilywhites looking certain to score.

Chambers almost made Dundalk pay for some sloppy defending in their own area with an hour played, the midfielder lobbing his left footed attempt over the upright. The first yellow card came on 62 minutes when Kurtis Byrne needlessly chopped down Foran in the Hoops box.

Finally Rovers offered some sustained pressure, but once again Dennehy wasted the corner. The Tralee man got his revenge a minute later when he was hacked down by Dane Massey and referee McKeon pointed to the spot. Massey was booked for his protests. McCabe stepped up, but slipped during his run up and made the save easy for Cherrie.

John Dillon was booked on 69 minutes for a trip on McCabe, and Dennehy’s free kick was saved awkwardly by Cherrie. That was Dennehy’s last act as he was replaced by Tommy Stewart, while Stephen McDonnell and Vinny Faherty replaced Keith Ward and Patrick Hoban.

After 79 minutes Dane Massey’s cross found substitute Faherty, but he headed into the hands of Murphy from close range. John Mountney forced a save out of Murphy just a minute later as the momentum shifted. With all six substitutes made the remaining seven minutes where finely poised and just two minutes left on the clock Karl Sheppard swung a cross into the box but Stewart was adjudged to be offside.

A minute into added time a Ciaran Kilduff header played in Karl Sheppard, who was tripped by Massey at the edge of the box, and the new signing was shown a second yellow for the challenge. However,Ronan Finn was unable to punish Dundalk and the game ended in stalemate.

Dundalk: Peter Cherrie; John Sullivan, Mark Rossiter, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; John Dillon (John Mountney 77), Richie Towell, Stephen O’Donnell (c), Patrick Hoban (Vinny Faherty 74), Keith Ward (Stephen McDonnell 70); Kurtis Byrne.
Subs not used: Aaron Shanahan (GK), Eoghan Osborne, Tiarnan Mulvenna, Darren Meenan.

Booked: .

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Pat Sullivan (c), Derek Foran, Jason McGuiness, Conor Powell; Gary McCabe (Karl Sheppard 81), Stephen Rice, James Chambers (Conor McCormack 81), Ronan Finn, Billy Dennehy (Thomas Stewart 71); Ciaran Kilduff.
Subs not used: Richard Brush (GK), Daniel Ledwith, Shane Robinson, David Elebert.

Booked: .

Referee: Dave McKeon.

Attendence: 2,598

Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Stephen O’Donnell (Dundalk).