Brandon Miele's strike early in the second half propelled Shamrock Rovers into fifth spot in the Premier Division as they saw off 10-man Sligo Rovers at Tallaght Stadium.
Miele's 48th minute goal was enough to earn Stephen Bradley's men their fourth win of 2017 while John Russell's 24th minute red card did little to help the westerners' cause.
The result sees the Dubliners move level on points with Derry while Sligo continue to languish in the relegation zone.
The Hoops made two changes with Miele and Darren Meenan returning while Sligo kept faith with the side that beat Bohs last weekend.
It was the Dublin Rovers who seemed the most likely to register a score in the opening half.
Gary Shaw could only hook Meenan's cross over Micheál Schlingermann's goal frame three minutes in while Graham Burke had sight of goal seven minutes later, only to fire over from 20 yards.
Shaw was involved again soon after but misjudged the flight of the ball in his attempt to nod Simon Madden's cross past the Sligo net minder.
A limp Sligo were under the cosh for the majority and their assignment was made a lot tougher when Russell crashed into Roberto Lopes in the middle of the field. The Galway man catching Lopes on the ankle with his studs leaving referee Neil Doyle with little choice but to produce the red.
Declan McIntyre's charges did fashion a chance of their own mid-way through the half. Kieran Sadlier only able to fire straight at Tomer Chencinski. While Sligo's Jonah Ayunga did find the net six minutes from the break. The Brighton loanee strayed marginally offside in the build-up however.
Schlingermann was back in action early in the second half and had to scurry across his goal to push Burke's curler past his post two minutes in.
The Mayo man maybe could have done more to keep out Miele's opener from the resulting corner.
Meenan and Trevor Clarke combined to find Miele at the edge of the Sligo box. His drive at goal slipping between the stumbling Schlingermann and the post for the Dubliner's second goal of the season.
The Sligo net minder to his credit did pull off a number of decent saves in the second half. The best of these coming a little after the hour mark.
Madden broke free of his man before picking out the unmarked Burke who saw his close range header somehow clawed away by the left arm of the acrobatic Schlingermann.
The crossbar then came to Sligo's rescue in the 69th minute as the Tallaght side remained in control. Madden and Burke exchanged passes before the former landed an exquisite cross upon the head of Shaw who was unfortunate to see his effort come back off the woodwork.
Clarke forced another commanding stop from the Sligo number one six minutes from time after Shaw picked him out.
Shamrock Rovers: Tomer Chencinski; Simon Madden, Danny Devine (Sam Bone 82), David Webster, Trevor Clarke; Darren Meenan, Ronan Finn, Graham Burke, Trevor Clarke; Brandon Miele (James Doona 85); Gary Shaw (Sean Boyd 73).
Sligo Rovers: Micheál Schlingermann; Tobi Adebayo-Rowling, Kyle Callan-McFadden, Mick Leahy, Gary Boylan; Kieran Sadlier, Craig Roddan, John Russell, Liam Martin (Daniel Kearns 72); Raffaele Cretaro (Chris Kenny 60); Jonah Ayunga.
Referee: Neil Doyle.
