In a game that was going to take something special to separate them, Patrick McEleney’s wonder strike was the match winner in an exciting and tense game in Oriel Park. The home side make it three wins out of three as they begin their Premier Divisi
In a game that was going to take something special to separate them, Patrick McEleney’s wonder strike was the match winner in an exciting and tense game in Oriel Park.
The home side make it three wins out of three as they begin their Premier Division defence in earnest.
Dundalk started the brighter in this contest with various chances on goal but Freddy Hall and the Limerick defence were capable of dealing with the on song Dundalk attack. Michael Duffy's free kick was swept in from the right and after being headed around the box it eventually fell to Ciaran Kilduff who headed just wide. Moments later it was Brian Gartland's turn to test the Limerick defence from Bensons free kick but he too headed just wide. Limerick then had a dominant period of play with a brilliant cross whipped in from the right which was nearly met by the diving Rodrigo Tosi, however that effort just went wide much to the relief of the Dundalk home crowd.
It was going to take something special to break the deadlock and right on cue was Patrick McEleney. In the form midfielder took control of the ball in the middle of the park and unleashed a high curling effort which flew into the top right corner of the net to spark jubilant celebrations in Oriel Park.
Both Benson and McGrath had efforts late on in te half to double the advantage but to no avail.
The second half began with Dundalk on the front foot and they had a big call to increase their lead with shouts around the ground for a penalty after Freddy Hall spilled the ball in the Limerick area, and attempts to clear the ball saw Ciaran Kilduff go down, despite protests from Dundalk the referee waved play on. Rodrigo Tosi was the main threat and tormentor to for Limerick to Dundalk’s defence with plenty of chances for the striker to add to this season tally, Gabriel Sava was however was equal to all shots that came his way.
After what was a tense finish to the game, Limerick laid siege on the Dundalk goal but could not get the goal, to their credit on another day they could have gotten. The final attempt on Dundalk’s goal came from Savas custodian counterpart Freddy Hall but the keepers header from a free kick went wide.
