- Patrick O'Connor
- Sat, Apr 22 2023
Patrick O’ Connor reports from Tolka Park
Shelbourne failed to beat Dundalk in any of their previous five encounters but they will be more than happy to settle for a draw again at Tolka Park on Friday night as they managed to get a 1-1 score line after playing all but the first nine minutes of the game with only ten men.
They put up a magnificent rearguard action after the early dismissal of Shane Farrell and held out against Dundalk until the 81st minute when the Lilywhites finally managed to make their numerical advantage count.
Dundalk Head Coach Stephen O Donnell will not be pleased however that they could not take all three points in a game where they used the extra man to garner 80 % of the possession but still could not break the resistance of Shelbourne for whom goalkeeper Conor Kearns was outstanding.
The first key moment of the game occurred in the ninth minute when Dundalk left winger Rayhaan Tulloch drew a foul from Andrew Quinn in the box and in the aftermath, Shane Farrell struck a Dundalk player and got a straight red from referee Damian McGrath.
The normally reliable Robbie Benson struck the penalty well but Kearns pulled off a magnificent save. He had begun to dive to his left in anticipation of the ball going in that direction but when Benson went straight down the middle Kearns managed to use his right to stop the flight of the ball and then readjusted his feet to gather the ball with both hands.
Dundalk did go on to dominate possession and channelled a lot of ball down the right side where Keith Ward and Archie Davies combined well and caused lots of problems for the home defence.
Shels were confined to a very occasional break away attacks and they did have the ball in the net in the 15th minute but Paddy Barrett was adjudged to have fouled Dundalk keeper Nathan Sheppard and a free out was awarded.
Kearns came to the rescue of Shels on numerous occasions throughout the first half, including just before the half time break when he smothered a Dundalk attempt on goal after a Ward free kick.
Shels took the lead against the run of play in the 55th minute when Jack Moylan struck a penalty kick after Evan Caffrey was fouled in the box by Tulloch.
This lead goal energised the home side but they were still conceding possession and it looked like only a matter of time before the incessant Dundalk pressure would lead to an equaliser which it finally did in the 80th minute.
Tulloch received the ball on the left wing and he waltzed past a few Shels defenders before striking the ball into the far-right corner of the net, with Kearns being able to get down quickly enough to make a save.
The odds were then on Dundalk to use the momentum from the goal to push on for the winner, and although they came agonisingly close with a Davies shot in the 91st minute, in keeping with their performance over the whole match they lacked the creativity to break down the Shels defence and had to settle for a share of the points.
The result still leaves Shelbourne in fifth place in the league table but it also allowed Dundalk to move up two places from eight to sixth, just one point behind last night’s opponents.
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Paddy Barrett, Shane Griffin, Luke Byrne, Andrew Quinn (David Toure 46), Evan Caffrey, Shane Farrell, JJ Lunney, Jack Moylan (Brian McManus 85), Kian Leavy (Kameron Ledwidge 59), Matty Smith.
Subs not used: Scott Van der Sluis (GK), Luke Browne, Jad Hakiki, Gbemi Arubi. Lewis Temple, Kyle Robinson.
Booked: Damien Duff (12).
Red Card: Shane Farrell (9)
Dundalk: Nathan Shepperd; Hayden Muller, Darragh Leahy, Archie Davies, Johannes Yli-Kokko (Ryan O’ Kane 51), Keith Ward, Connor Malley (Pat Hoban 59), Alfie Lewis (Paul Doyle 79), Robbie Benson; John Martin, Rayhaan Tulloch.
Subs not used: Peter Cherrie, Mark Byrne, Eoin Kenny, Jake Hough, Craig Moore, Sean Bannon.
Booked: Conor Malley (36)
Referee: Damian McGrath.
Attendance: 2873
Extratime.com Player of the Match: Conor Kearns (Shelbourne).
