Dundalk 3-0 Galway United
Richie Towell helped himself to a 12-minute hat-trick as league leaders Dundalk blew SSE Airtricity Premier Division new boys Galway United away at Oriel Park.
A scoreless first half saw the champions struggle to get any sort of rhythm going, but they exploded into life in the second half with Towell’s hat-trick taking his tally to seven league goals already this season.
The result keeps Stephen Kenny’s side clear at the summit of the SSE Airtricity League. The Lilywhites sit two points ahead of second-placed Cork City, before the two sides clash at Turner’s Cross this Friday.
It was refreshing to see Galway United manager Tommy Dunne deploy a two-man attack and his willingness to fight fire with fire certainly troubled the natives in the first half.
In contrast, Dundalk, by their own high standards, stuttered for most of the opening 45 minutes with Stephen Kenny cutting a frustrated figure in his technical area.
The meeting of the Horgan brothers provided a nice subplot to the game and it was Dundalk winger Daryl, who won the first battle after ten minutes, beating Galway full-back Colm in a footrace to deliver from the left.
David McMillan, however, headed off target. It proved to be a rare moment of attractive football and the champions looked some way off their best for the remainder of the half.
The Tribesmen certainly gave as good as they got and Padraic Cunningham rifled a half volley just off target in the 13th minute, the chance set up by former Dundalk player Gary Shanahan.
With Gary Rogers suspended following his red card in Tallaght on Friday night, Kenny handed goalkeeper Gabriel Sava his first league start. The Italian came from his penalty area to sweep up on a number of occasions and looked confident with whatever came his way.
His only moment of doubt came in the 33rd minute when he spilled a Ryan Connolly free-kick, allowing David O’Leary to sweep home. Fortunately for Sava, referee Paul McLaughlin’s whistle has already blown for an infringement on the goalkeeper.
Dundalk continued to hit a wall going forward, but they fashioned a clear cut opportunity with their best move of the half in the 33rd minute. Sean Gannon’s wonderful cross found Darren Meenan creeping at the back post, but his tame header was gathered safely by Ger Hanley, another of Galway’s ex-Dundalk contingent.
Kenny will no doubt have laid into his side at the break and his words had the desired effect as the champions pulled ahead after 48 minutes. Towell’s threaded pass sought McMillan in the penalty area and when the striker was clipped by Kevin Garcia, Towell made no mistake from 12 yards.
Galway’s decent first half performance became nothing more than a distant memory two minutes later as the champions began to flex their muscles. Meenan and Gannon combined again on the right and the full-back’s cut back was swept home in emphatic fashion by Towell for his sixth goal of the season.
Galway needed a quick reply to stop the rising Dundalk tide, but Sava showed good hands to gather a well hit Enda Curran free-kick in the 58th minute.
The Tribesmen struggled to live with Dundalk’s penetration and goal number three arrived on the hour mark. McMillan rolled the ball to Towell on the corner of the 18-yard box and the midfielder curled a beautiful effort past the flatfooted Hanley to complete his hat-trick in style.
Dundalk: Gabriel Sava; Sean Gannon, Brian Gartland (Paddy Barrett 63), Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Richie Towell, Chris Shields; Darren Meenan, Ronan Finn (Stephen O’Donnell 88), Daryl Horgan; David McMillan (John Mountney 76). Subs not used: Kurtis Byrne, Shane Grimes, Jake Kelly, Ben Kelly (GK).
Galway United: Ger Hanley; Colm Horgan, Kevin Garcia, Stephen Walsh, Marc Ludden (Sam Oji 56); Gary Shanahan, David O’Leary (Alex Byrne 69), Ryan Connolly, Jake Keegan; Enda Curran (Aintaine O’Laoi 72), Paraic Cunningham. Subs not used: Cormac Rafferty, Paul Sinnott, Conor Barry, Conor Gleeson (GK).
Referee: Paul McLaughlin.
Attendance: 2,683.
