- Ciaran Fisher
- Sun, May 10 2015
Two second half goals from Dundalk were enough to see off a dogged Longford Town at City Calling Stadium tonight. Wingers Daryl Horgan and John Mountney helped the Lilywhites to a 2-0 win and extended Dundalk's unbeaten run to 21 games in all competitions.
Showers before kick-off made for a greasy surface and there were plenty of passes and tackles askew from both sides. Longford started the brighter and had the lion's share of possession in the opening phase.
Kevin O'Connor forced an early save from Gary Rogers but Dundalk kicked into life with about five minutes played and worked to impose a quicker tempo on the game. Despite some good passages of play, Dundalk couldn't find that killer ball against a disciplined Longford defence amid the wet conditions.
The dampened travelling fans would have to wait until the second half for their spirits to be lifted. On the 54th minute, Daryl Horgan found himself some space on the outside right by tuning his man and firing home off the woodwork. He had two chances to find his range in the first half; the first landed in the car park and the second forced a fine save from Paul Skinner. He made no mistake third time round.
The Dundalk fans' relief must have soon turned to apprehension as Longford chased the game and enjoyed their most threatening passage of play after conceding. The Black and Red almost had the perfect response barely a minute after the restart: Pat Flynn capitalised in Dundalk's failure to adequately clear a cross to get a snap shot away. The combined efforts of Gary Rogers and Richie Towell cleared off the line.
Dundalk had the ball cleared off the line themselves on 75minutes when Skinner pulled off a fine save to deny Darren Meenan. With chances limited in the second half it felt as if another goal would decide the points.
Richie Towell has been in fine form of late and this game marked his 100th appearance for the Lilywhites. He worked hard but the best midfield performance came from the understated Chris Shields. Every time Longford nearly established a foothold in the game, Shields conspired to break their attacks down and ensured his side dominated possession.
However, Dundalk's failure to capitalise on their dominance must have had Stephen Kenny sweating that a solitary late strike might see the points shared -as happened in Limerick earlier in the season.
Kenny's nerves were eased on the 86th minute when two of his substitutions linked to secure the victory for the away side. Stephen O'Donnell flicked the ball into the path of John Mountney who piledrived home from the edge of the area.
The result means Dundalk maintain their unbeaten title-defence campaign and their seven point advantage at the summit of the table over the chasing pack.
Longford Town: Paul Skinner; Pat Flynn, Martin Deady, Mark Rossiter, Pat Sullivan; Ayman Ben Mohammad, Kevin O’Connor, Stephen Rice, Jamie Mulhall (Don Cowan 72), David O’Sullivan (Kaleem Simon 75); Gary Shaw.
Subs Not Used: Paul Hunt (gk), William Tyrell, Lorcan Shannon, Mark Salmon, Rhys Gorman.
Booked: None.
Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle, Brian Gartland (Paddy Barrett, 71), Dane Massey; Richie Towell, Chris Shields, Richie Towell; Darren Meenan (John Mountney, 75), Ronan Finn (Stephen O’Donnell, 84), Daryl Horgan; David McMillan.
Subs Not Used: Gabriel Sava (gk), Kurtis Byrne, Shane Grimes, Jake Kelly.
Booked: Gartland (51), Gannon (68), Shields (89).
Referee: Paul Tuite
Attendance: 1,400 (estimate)
Extratime.ie Man of the Match: Chris Shields (Dundalk)
