Dundalk manager Stephen Kenny heaped praise on his side after they defeated Cork City 1-0 in Oriel Park. It was their first win over their rivals since October 2016.
"We were deserved winners," Kenny told RTÉ Sport.
"The players deserve immense credit for the way they applied themselves, it was a real sense of team, a real effort.
"We missed a lot of chances to get a second goal. The game was in the balance as Cork are always a threat with the players that they have got.
"The fact that we missed the chances could have come back to haunt us but it didn’t in the end."
Cork and Waterford are on the top of the table with nine points, while Dundalk occupy third spot and have eight points.
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— Dundalk FC (@DundalkFC) March 10, 2018
Kenny's side failed to find the net in their opening two games but they silenced their critics when they scored eight against Limerick last week.
"We are a lot stronger now than we were two weeks ago, the squad was decimated, we look very strong now with people getting back to fitness.
"But we have some tough games with St Patrick's on Monday and Waterford on Friday and we have to get ourselves ready for that. It was important you couldn’t be going seven points behind.
"No one gives you anything you have to earn the right to win matches and I think we understand that. We started with nothing here and we built the club and won three League titles.
"Last year was Cork's year, we are hoping to go again. We finished second last year, we have a lot of new players in but I think as the season progresses we will get stronger."
