Early red card decisive as Dundalk routed by Shamrock Rovers

Dundalk 0-4 Shamrock Rovers

At the seventh attempt, Shamrock Rovers recorded their first win in this season’s SSE Airtricity League after thrashing ten-man Dundalk FC 4-0 at Oriel Park last night.

Robbie Benson’s red card just past the half-hour mark inflicted the hosts with a considerable handicap for the majority of this game, and they were made to pay as goals from Rory Gaffney, Lee Grace, Johnny Kenny and Graham Burke saw them well-beaten.

After what was a cagey opening to affairs, The Hoops took the lead after 22 minutes, when a Daniel Cleary ball into the penalty box was met at the far post by Gaffney, who managed to get himself in ahead of a static Archie Davies to head home and make it 1-0.

The Lilywhites should have equalised just five minutes later, however, when a lovely exchange between Connor Malley and Benson saw the former slip John Martin through on goal, but the Dundalk forward blazed over the top when it looked easier to score.

Then, the game’s big talking point arrived on 31 minutes, when Benson was shown a straight red card by referee Arnold Hunter for a high challenge on Grace right in front of the dugouts – meaning Dundalk would have to play about an hour with just ten players.

As the rain poured down above Oriel, the Dundalk support weren’t dispirited in spite of that deficit, but their hopes were short-lived, as Rovers made it 2-0 in the 37th minute.

That goal came when The Lilywhites failed to clear their lines following a Jack Byrne corner from the left, allowing pantomime villain and Rovers captain Grace to head home.

It should have been 3-0 before half-time, when a quick counter-attack saw Byrne release Gaffney, but luckily for the already-committed Nathan Shepperd, his effort trickled wide.

Dundalk boss Stephen O’Donnell was visibly perplexed when Hunter waved away his side’s penalty appeals after Martin looked to have been nudged inside the area by Grace.

The elements certainly reduced the quality of this encounter at times, not least when the usually reliable Shepperd almost got caught out by Richie Towell’s long-range attempt.

Dundalk tried desperately to keep themselves in this game, but fell further behind on 71 minutes, when a Towell right-field cross was headed home by the unmarked Kenny.

The Hoops made a triple-substitution, one of whom was Burke, who finished from close range seconds after his introduction to complete the rout for Stephen Bradley’s side.

Untested for most of the night, Rovers goalkeeper Alan Mannus produced a fantastic save from Keith Ward late on before saving again from Greg Sloggett on the rebound.

Those were Dundalk’s first and only attempts on target of what was a forgettable night.

Dundalk FC: Nathan Shepperd; Archie Davies, Wasiri Williams, Andy Boyle, Darragh Leahy (Robbie McCourt 79); Greg Sloggett, Alfie Lewis (Johannes Yli-Kokko 68); Robbie Benson, Connor Malley (Keith Ward 75), Rayhaan Tulloch (Ryan O’Kane 68); John Martin (Daniel Kelly 75)

Subs not used: Peter Cherrie (gk), Mark Byrne (gk), Hayden Muller, Anthony Moyo

Shamrock Rovers: Alan Mannus; Daniel Cleary, Sean Hoare, Lee Grace; Neil Farrugia (Darragh Nugent 74), Richie Towell, Gary O’Neill, Sean Kavanagh (Dylan Watts 79); Jack Byrne (Markus Poom 59); Johnny Kenny (Aaron Greene 74), Rory Gaffney (Graham Burke 74)

Subs not used: Leon Pohls (gk), Sean Gannon, Roberto Lopes, Ronan Finn

Referee: Arnold Hunter (Fermanagh)

Attendance: 3,761