An exciting game at Tallaght Stadium ended with Dundalk lifting the season's first piece of silverware thanks to a 3-0 win over Shamrock Rovers. Dundalk enjoyed an explosive start to the game and deservedly took the lead after just five minutes thro
An exciting game at Tallaght Stadium ended with Dundalk lifting the season's first piece of silverware thanks to a 3-0 win over Shamrock Rovers.
Dundalk enjoyed an explosive start to the game and deservedly took the lead after just five minutes through David McMillan. The striker was left free in the middle of the box as he got on the end of a corner to head towards goal. Madden, standing at he near post, tried to keep it out but his header came off the underside of the bar and landed behind him.
Chances were much harder to come by in the second half as Rovers struggled to create any clear-cut openings, while Dundalk were happy to sit back and hit their opponents on the break.
Rovers' task was made that bit tougher when Aaron Bolger was shown a straight red card for a rash tackle on Niclas Vemmelund.
The introduction of Gary Shaw gave Rovers more of a focal point up front but Dundalk took advantage of their extra man to suffocate the midfield and they eventually doubled their lead on 81 minutes through a magnificent strike from Patrick McEleney.
To their credit, Rovers never gave up but their misery was compounded in injury time when substitute Thomas Stewart latched onto a excellent through ball by Sean Gannon, produced an excellent first touch and finished past Tomer Chencinski after only being on the pitch a matter of seconds.
