Dundalk moved back to the top of the eircom League First Division with a more comprehensive win over ten-man Kildare County than the scoreline might suggest.
John Gill’s team were much the better side for long periods of this game and only a lapse of concentration two minutes after second goal meant that they endured a stressful final few moments.
The first half was largely a quiet affair notable only for Dundalk having to make two substitutions as skipper Aidan Lynch and Robbie Martin were both forced off with injuries.
After the tedium of the first half, it took just 31 seconds for the second half to come to life. Trevor Vaughan’s ball inside Baba Isaaka put Jamie Duffy in the clear. The former Shamrock Rovers winger still had plenty to do but he brilliantly beat Austin O’Neill with a delicate chip.
Dundalk then spurned numerous chances to increase their lead with Trevor Vaughhan, David Cassidy and Tiernan Mulvenna all going close.
Kildare’s chances of getting anything from the game were dramatically reduced when their captain Paul Donnelly was shown a red card for a professional foul on Tieran Mulvenna as the Dundalk striker headed for goal.
Paul Crowley seemed to have secured the win for Dundalk when he scrambled the ball home from close range just 30 seconds after coming on as a substitute following Dave Crawley’s corner.
That should have been it for Dundalk but Colin Murray, son of Martin who managed Dundalk to a FAI Cup victory in 2002, headed home at the back post but it wasn’t enough for Kildare.
Kildare County: O’Neill; Murray, Brophy, Donnelly, Isaaka (Powderly 80); Mooney, Kavanagh (Morgan 76), Fortune, Slattery (Kilkenny 60); Kilduff, Robinson.
Dundalk: Bennion; Flanagan, Lynch (Marney 6), Ryan, Crawley; Duffy, Shiels Cassidy, Smyth (Crowley75); Martin (Vaughan 39), Mulvenna.
Referee: Padraig Sutton (Clare).
