- Tom O'Connor
- Fri, Jul 29 2022
Dundalk turned in a dominant second half display to see off the challenge of Longford Town on a damp Friday night at Oriel Park courtesy of a brace from Greg Sloggett and a goal apiece from Pat Hoban and Joe Adams.
Second half substitutions proved key to the win as Joe Adams and Ryan O'Kane provided the spark that was missing in the opening 45 minutes.
In relation to the starting teams, Nathan Shepperd returned to the lineup for the first time since the 1-0 defeat to Drogheda United on the 8th of July while Norwegian winger Runar Huage made his debut on loan from Hibernians.
Longford Town arrived at the Carrick Road venue seeking to replicate the performances which saw them take a win and two draws from their four games against tonight’s hosts in the Premier Division last season.
The first half was a drab affair with the closest to a goal coming in the final play of the period- Bradley nodding a Keith Ward corner off the post before a bout of pinball ended with a Longford Town free out.
Dundalk had the balance of the play throughout with debutant winger Runar Hauge featuring sporadically- an effort from distance straight at Luke Dennison the closest the Norwegian came to scoring while his low cross to Keith Ward on the half hour was skewed wide by the onrushing former Bohemians player.
The second half was an entirely different piece of drama as two Dundalk substitutes came on after 54 minutes and ripped up the previous script.
Within ten minutes of the arrival of Joe Adams and Ryan O’Kane Dundalk had a three goal lead. Adams popped up at the near post to collect a pass on the right hand side and his driven effort was parried by Luke Dennison who was helpless as Greg Sloggett netted the rebound from close range to open the scoring just before the hour mark.
Worse was to come within a couple of minutes as Pat Hoban powered a header to the net after more good work down the Dundalk right with Lewis Macari heavily involved. The home side made it three shortly after as Joe Adams let fly with a low effort which squirmed past the busy Dennison.
The American born stopper denied Hoban a second with a fine stop, however for the second time on the night Greg Sloggett finished a rebound past him- on this occasion it was the electric O’Kane who collected the loose ball before squaring for the Meathman to make it four on the night for the home side.
They could have had a fifth with less than ten minutes left on the clock but John Martin was flagged offside after Longford’s netminder had twice denied Dundalk smartly. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the home side however as Nathan Shepperd had to show bravery in a collision with Darren Clarke as the former Collinstown man raced clear in the 85th minute.
A strong second half performance for Dundalk as they march on in the competition, while for Longford Town all eyes are on next week’s clash with Cobh Ramblers as they look to earn promotion for 2023.
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Sam Bone, Andy Boyle, Darragh Leahy, Lewis Macari (John Mountney 69); Paul Doyle, Greg Sloggett (John Martin 70), Keith Ward (Joe Adams 54); Steven Bradley, Runar Hauge (Ryan O'Kane 54), Patrick Hoban (c) (David McMillan 69).
Subs not used: Peter Cherrie, Robbie McCourt, Daniel Kelly.
Booked: None.
Longford Town: Luke Dennison; Aaron Robinson (Matthew O'Brien 75), Michael McDonnell, Shane Elworthy, Dylan Barnett (Ben Lynch 75), Michael Barker; Dean McMenamy; Brandon McCann (Karl Chambers 55), Kian Corbally, Jordan Adeyemo (Darren Clarke 61), Sam Verdon (c) (Adam Verdon 61).
Subs not used: Colm Cox, Eric Molloy, Cristian Magerusan.
Booked: None.
Referee: Alan Patchell
Attendance: 1,576
extratime.com Player of the Match: Steven Bradley (Dundalk)
