Rovers end Dundalk’s treble hopes

Substitute Karl Sheppard hit a late double as Shamrock Rovers came from behind to see off league leaders Dundalk 2-1 in last night’s FAI Ford Cup quarter-final replay at Oriel Park.

The home side’s treble dream looked very much on when leading scorer Patrick Hoban fired them in front five minutes before half-time.

However, Sheppard’s goals in the 81^st and 87^th minutes rocked Oriel Park.

Just as in the first game, which finished 0-0 in Tallaght last Friday, Dundalk were left to rue a series of misses when they were on top with Barry Murphy excelling for Pat Fenlon’s side in goal.

Hoban deservedly headed them in front in the 40^th minute when he headed home from Darren Meenan’s delivery.

Murphy was superb though to twice deny Hoban on the restart before doing likewise from Andy Boyle.

Having weathered the storm, Rovers began to pile on the pressure and it finally told as they grabbed an equaliser nine minutes from time when Sheppard raced onto Sean O’Connor’s pass to slot past Peter Cherrie.

The real drama was yet to come, however, as three minutes from time Sheppard broke clear on the right to fire his side into the last four.

Dundalk: Cherrie; Gannon, Rossiter (Higgins 88), Boyle, Massey; Meenan (McMillan 88), Shields, Towell, Horgan; Byrne (Mountney 68), Hoban. Subs not used: Ward, Griffin, Kaguako, Sava.

Shamrock Rovers: Murphy; Madden, Kenna, McGuinness, Byrne; Brennan (Waters 53), Robinson (McPhail 62), Cregg, Finn, O’Connor; Kelly (Sheppard 77). Subs not used: Cornwall, Bayly, McCabe, Hyland.

Referee: D McKeon (Dublin).

Dundalk and Rovers must meet again after Tallaght stalemate

Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers must meet again on Monday night to determine which of the two sides will advance to the semi-finals of the FAI Ford Cup after playing out a goalless stalemate in Tallaght Stadium last night.

In a game of few chances, Pat Fenlon’s side thought they had opened the scoring midway through the first half when Karl Sheppard headed home only to see his effort chalked off for offside.

Richie Towell had Dundalk’s best opening of the half soon after when he latched onto a Sean Gannon pass only to be denied by Barry Murphy.

The best opening of the second half also fell the Lilywhites’ way when substitute Kurtis Byrne was slipped through by David McMillan only to curl his effort just wide.

A deep free kick from Daryl Horgan then had to be finger-tipped over by Murphy right at the end as a replay was required.

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Simon Madden, Conor Kenna, Jason McGuinness, Luke Byrne; Shane Robinson, Patrick Cregg, Ronan Finn; Kieran Marty Waters (Ciaran Kilduff, 88), Karl Sheppard (Dean Kelly, 66), Gary McCabe (Ryan Brennan, 74).

Dundalk: Peter Cherrie; Sean Gannon, Andy Boyle, Brian Gartland, Dane Massey; Richie Towell, Donal McDermott (Kurtis Byrne, 54), Chris Shields; Darren Meenan(John Mountney, 83), David McMillian (Patrick Hoban, 74), Daryl Horgan.

Referee: Padraigh Sutton

Shields goal ensures Dundalk’s path into Setanta Cup final

Dundalk FC last night booked themselves a place in next month’s Setanta Sports Cup final against Sligo Rovers with a 1-0 victory over Shamrock Rovers at Oriel Park last night.

Chris Shields’ goal two minutes into the second half proved the difference between the sides on the night, with the Lilywhites advancing to the final on Saturday May 10^th with a 3-1 aggregate lead having beaten Trevor Croly’s side 2-1 in Tallaght three weeks earlier.

Dundalk had the better of the chances throughout but did have to defend resolutely at times to keep the Hoops out.

The home side’s best opening of the first half came on the half hour mark when Andy Boyle headed a corner over. Five minutes before the break through, Peter Cherrie had to be at his best to keep a deflected shot from Ronan Finn out.

The breakthrough finally arrived two minutes after the restart when Shields met Ruaidhrí Higgins’ free at the back post to prod it home past Craig Hyland.

Both sides had their chances after that with John Mountney bringing a fine low save out of Hyland before Karl Sheppard blazed over from close range.

Rovers kept pressing until the end but never really troubled Cherrie as Stephen Kenny’s side held out to book the club only their second ever Setanta Cup final appearance.

The venue for the May 10^th final will be decided on Thursday while the fixture means that Dundalk’s scheduled league clash at home to neighbours Drogheda Utd on May 9^th will have to be arranged.

Dundalk: Cherrie; Gannon, Boyle, Rossiter, Massey; Shields, Higgins; Mountney, Towell (O’Donnell 88), Horgan (Meenan 77); McMillan (Hoban 70).

Shamrock Rovers: Hyland; Cornwall, Heaney (Kehoe 76), Kenna, Byrne; Finn (Kilduff 76), Robinson, Bayly, Waters (Brennan 69); Zayed, Sheppard.

Referee: Raymond Crangle.

Attendance: 1,976.

Dundalk step up title challenge with victory over Rovers

Dundalk’s Kurtis Byrne celebrates his goal last night

Dundalk showed they meant business in the Airtricity League Premier Division title race with a scintillating performance to see off Shamrock Rovers 3-1 at Oriel Park last night.

One of the best performances the side have produced in years, coupled with St Patrick Athletic’s draw against Drogheda United, means that Stephen Kenny’s side now lie just a point off top spot – albeit the sides around them all have a game in hand on the Lilywhites.

It’s Dundalk who are the form side heading into the final round of matches though and they certainly hit the ground running last night by taking the lead inside the opening two minutes. Patrick Hoban raced onto a poor back pass from Conor Powell before skipping past Richard Brush to send a packed Oriel into raptures.

They then doubled their advantage on the quarter hour mark with Hoban rising unchallenged to meet Darren Meenan’s corner as he powered a header to the net from eight yards out for what was his 13^th of the season.

Dundalk had plenty of chances to add to their advantage after that but their failure to add a third looked like it might prove costly when Trevor Crolly’s visitors pulled a goal back a minute before the break as Karl Sheppard swept home a tidy pass from Sean O’Connor, who had broke down the right.

The Tallaght men almost levelled matters five minutes after the restart when Jason McGuinness got up to meet a Billy Dennehy free but Peter Cherrie pulled off a wonder save to keep his side in front.

Dundalk then put the game to bed in the 53^rd minute. Meenan’s free to the back post was headed back across goal by Andy Boyle with Brush only able to palm the ball into the path of Byrne, who rifled home to an empty net.

Sheppard had a great chance to cut the deficit late on but was denied by another stunning save from Cherrie before Rovers’ night went from bad to worse four minutes from time when Stephen Kenny was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Chris Shields.

Dundalk: Cherrie; Sullivan, Boyle, Gartland, Shields; Dillon (McCaffrey 76), Towell, O’Donnell, Meenan; Hoban (Faherty 87), Byrne (Mulvenna 84). Subs not used: Kelly, Murphy, Keegan, Shanahan.

Shamrock Rovers: Brush; McCormack, McGuinness, Oman, Powell; O’Connor (McCabe 66), Robinson, Chambers (Rice 80), Dennehy (Stewart 73); Sheppard, Zayed. Subs not used: Ledwith, Foran, Sullivan, Murphy.

Referee: Alan Kelly (Cork).

Att: 2,179.