Sean Maguire scored twice as Cork City emerged with a smash-and-grab win away to Shamrock Rovers on a blustery Friday evening in Tallaght.
The Kilkenny man scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season at either end of the 90 minutes as City endured a second-half onslaught to take an unlikely three points.
Graham Burke had equalised for Rovers from the spot late in the first half, and the home side looked the more likely to grab a winner before City won an 87th-minute spot-kick of their own.
In atrocious conditions in Tallaght, the likelihood was that a fiesta of fluid football was not going to break out, and the team that could adapt better to the conditions would succeed.
That appeared, in the beginning at least, to be the visitors as Kevin O'Connor tested Rovers keeper Tomer Chencinski with an early diagonal free kick into the box after six minutes.
The keeper wasn't fully convincing as he attempted to punch the ball clear, finding only City striker Steven Beattie, whose volley from the edge of the box was sliced well wide.
Another diagonal forced Rovers defender Danny Devine into a diving header behind, and his keeper appeared to have done well enough to scamper to the endline and prevent the corner.
Having kept the ball in, however, the Israeli-born Canadian goalkeeper failed to hold it, allowing Maguire the simple task of nipping in and walking the ball into an empty net.
Maguire has opened the scoring in each of his side's five league games this season. In such lethal form, he hardly needs such a clear invitation to score, but he accepted it gleefully.
Chencinski had another hairy moment when he dropped a Stephen Dooley cross on his line, but this time the keeper was able to drop and smother the ball before Maguire could react.
The busy Chencinski tipped an O'Connor free kick over the bar after David McAllister had been booked for a lunge on Beattie – one of three Rovers men booked in the first half.
The Hoops' patience paid off as they gradually worked their way into the game, and they were awarded a penalty seven minutes from the break
Meenan's corner was cleared as far as Ryan Connolly, and he lifted the ball back into the area where, engaged in a tussle with Gary Shaw, Conor McCormack lifted his hand to the ball and Burke beat McNulty from 12 yards.
The second half was a much more one-sided affair as Ronan Finn and McAllister began to control the midfield battle, while City were disrupted by the loss of captain John Dunleavy and Stephen Dooley to injury.
Finn tested McNulty with a bending shot following good work from Burke, before setting up the winger for a shot that was well-blocked.
Burke was close to adding a second of the game when he pulled away from the pack to accept Darren Meenan's quick free, and he was unfortunate to see his shot come back off the crossbar.
Rovers continued to press but the defence, now led by substitute Alan Bennett, held firm and the Leesiders got their reward when Devine felled Maguire inside the box.
Shamrock Rovers: Tomer Chencinski; Simon Madden, David Webster, Daniel Devine, Trevor Clarke; Darren Meenan (Michael O'Connor 90+1), David McAllister, Ronan Finn, Ryan Connolly (James Doona 80); Graham Burke, Gary Shaw (Sean Boyd 73).
Cork City: Mark McNulty; Conor McCormack, Ryan Delaney, John Dunleavy (Alan Bennett 70), Kevin O'Connor; Garry Buckley, Gearoid Morrissey, Jimmy Keohane; Steven Beattie (Karl Sheppard 61), Stephen Dooley (Connor Ellis 76), Sean Maguire.
Referee: Jim McKell (Tipperary).
