A calamitous error by Sporting Fingal goalkeeper Steve Williams helped his former club Dundalk to what for a while looked like an unlikely win in a hotly contested match at Oriel Park.
The home side had already had goalkeeper Chris Bennion sent-off and were a goal down when the ex-Shelbourne keeper gifted them a path back into the game four minutes into stoppage time.
There appeared no danger when Williams rose to collect a poor cross from the left by David O’Connor but after catching comfortably the shotstopper inexplicably took a step back into the net to leave it 1-1 at the break.
Fingal had earlier taken the lead on 24 minutes with another former Dundalk player, Robbie Doyle, dispatching a penalty past stand-in keeper Paul Marney after Bennion had taken down Peter Hynes in the area moments earlier.
Williams’ error then gifted John Gill’s men a way back into the game four minutes into additional time and things seemed to be slowly turning in the home side’s favour when Sporting midfielder Colm James was shown a straight red card on 62 minutes after protesting too hard at his side’s failure to win a second spot kick after Doyle took a tumble in the box.
With both sides down to 10 men, Liam Buckley’s visitors seized the initiative on 73 minutes with a short back pass by Aidan Lynch to Marney allowing Doyle to steal in for his second goal as he made it 2-1.
Dundalk were back on level terms just two minutes later, however, when Tiarnan Mulvenna’s flick header picked out Jamie Duffy at the back post with the winger drilling a low shot past Williams.
The Lilywhites then struck for a dramatic winner six minutes from time with Mulvenna applying the simplest of finishes after substitute Paul Crowley’s shot had rebounded to him off the inside of the post.
Dundalk: Bennion; Marney, Crawley, Whelehan, Grimes (Lynch, 33 mins); Duffy (Crowley, 82 mins), Shiels, Cassidy, O’Connor (Mulvenna 67 mins); Vaughan, Martin.
Sporting Fingal: Williams; Tyrell (Collins, 36 mins), Rogers, Deans, Kelly; Byrne, Gannon, James, Caffrey; Hynes (Crawford, 67 mins), Doyle (Corcoran, 77 mins).
Referee: Derek Tomney (Dublin)
