Goals from Jamie McGrath, a controversial spot kick from Robbie Benson and an own goal by Kevin Devaney were enough to see Dundalk into the EA Sports Cup final with a 3-0 win against Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park.
Stephen Kenny’s men were the dominant force, monopolising possession throughout. Indeed, two minutes after opening the scores in the 10th minute through a well-struck McGrath effort they could have doubled their lead through Benson who created space in the area to test Burns but failed to rattle the net.
The Lilywhites did get the ball in the net in the 16th minute when Sean Hoare rose to head in, but the referee ruled it out for an infringement in the box, much to the dismay of the travelling contingent.
Shane Keegan’s charges found it difficult to get a foothold in the game, but they did create a few half chances through Gary Shanahan, David Cawley and a speculative effort from Devaney after he created space to shoot with some fine dribbling – but neither chance earned them a goal.
Dundalk started the second half well and it took them 12 minutes to make their mark when referee Ray Matthews awarded a dubious penalty kick for a foul on John Mountney by Marc Ludden.
Robbie Benson stepped up to take it amidst a chorus of boos and dispatched it expertly to Burns’ left to double Dundalk’s lead.
Rory Hale attempted to pull one back on the hour mark but his shot from distance was dealt with well by Sava to repel a potentially invigorating goal – it was one of the few chances they created and summed up how uninventive they were in attack.
Dundalk eventually extended their lead to three in the 77th minute after Devaney turned into this own net after Sean Gannon’s cross from the right flank in a fluid move connected with his outstretched leg.
Eoin McCormack nearly pulled a consolation goal back in the closing minutes after a fluid counter attack saw him fed out wide on the left but while his stinging effort at goal had Sava scrambling to parry away, it didn’t go in.
In the end, though, it was the class of Dundalk that shone through as United go crashing out.
Galway United: Charlie Burns, Colm Horgan, Marc Ludden, Paul Sinnott, Gavan Holohan, David Cawley, Padraic Cunningham (Eoin McCormack 69), Kevin Devaney (Ronan Manning 89), Gary Shanahan, Rory Hale (Alex Byrne 68), Stephen Folan
Dundalk: Gabriel Sava, Sean Gannon, Stephen O’ Donnell, Michael Duffy, John Mountney (Patrick McEleney 63), Jamie McGrath, Shane Grimes, Sean Hoare, Robbie Benson (Conor Clifford 82), Niclas Vemmelund, Thomas Stewart (David McMillan 72)
Referee: Ray Matthews
