Dundalk moved a point clear at the top of the Airtricity Premier Division table thanks to a somewhat fortunate 2-0 win over Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday night.
Pat Hoban's tidy finish midway through the first half and John Mountney's second in inury time were enough to see the clinical Lilywhites to victory by the seaside.
The Lilywhites were second best for large portions of the contest, and the scoreline was a poor reflection on a reinvigorated home side who dominated possession and chances.
Struggling Bray parted company with manager Dave Mackey last week after a 5-0 defeat at St Patrick's Athletic made it eight defeats from nine this season.
Graham Kelly took charge of the Seagulls in a caretaker capacity, with Mackey's likely permanent successor Martin Russell in the dugout alongside him.
He made four changes in personnel, and Rhys Gorman became a fifth when Darragh Noone was injured in the warm-up.
Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny had the luxury of naming the same team who beat Shamrock Rovers 2-1 at Oriel Park seven days ago, as keeper Gary Rogers remained absent with a calf injury.
It was one of those ever-presents, Robbie Benson, who registered the first shot in anger, volleying ambitiously from distance but failing to test Aaron Dillon in the Bray goal.
At the other end, Kevin Lynch was causing problems with his pace from left back. Paul O'Conor would have been clear on goal had he controlled Lynch's cross, but the ball bounced off his shin.
A wonderfully-weighted Ronan Coughlan pass produced the first clear-cut chance of the game for Aaron Greene, but the striker blasted his shot wide when he seemed certain to open the scoring.
Benson was proving a menace in his floating midfield role, and it was hit cross-come-shot from wide on the right that forced Dillon's first save, the Blackburn Rovers loanee batting the ball clear.
And it was a Benson corner that led indirectly to the game's first goal, as Douglas could only head the ball up in the air and Hoban showed great technique to sidefoot home on the half-volley.
The goal was harsh on the Seagulls, who had been arguably the better side until then, but their positive approach continued as the half wore on.
A Gary McCabe through ball put Greene into space wide on the left and this time he did hit the target, shooting powerfully with his left foot, and Sava did well to gather at the second attempt.
McCabe forced Sava into a smart stop when he picked the ball up on the right-hand side of the box, cut inside two defenders and shot low and hard towards the Romanian's near post.
The same player played O'Conor in moments later, as the home side finished the first half the stronger, but again the visiting goalkeeper was alive to it and just about managed to beat the midfielder to the ball.
The Seagulls continued to have the better of the play after the break against a Dundalk side that lacked a creative spark throughout.
Just before the hour mark, an ambitious long-range effort from McCabe nearly caught out a backtracking Sava, but he did enough to claw the ball away from the corner.
Sava saved again from Daniel McKenna when the Wolves loanee's shot looked set to dip under the bar and Corey Galvin drove just wide either side of a Duffy free kick that sailed harmlessly over.
Greene looked once again like the player who terrorised defences at the beginning of last season and Kevin Lynch was imperious at the back, but Bray lacked a final ball when it mattered.
And Dundalk's Michael Duffy showed them how it was done deep into injury time as he skipped into the box and teed up John Mountney to fire into the roof of the net.
Bray Wanderers: Aaron Dillon; Dan McKenna (Jake Kelly 83), Conor Kenna, Hugh Douglas, Kevin Lynch; Paul O'Conor, Rhys Gorman (Ger Pender 65), Gary McCabe; Ronan Coughlan, Corey Galvin (Sean Heaney 74), Aaron Greene.
Dundalk: Gabriel Sava; Sean Gannon, Stephen Folan, Daniel Cleary, Dane Massey; Chris Shields, Robbie Benson, Jamie McGrath (Stephen O'Donnell 85); Kristian Adorjan (John Mountney 46), Michael Duffy, Patrick Hoban (Marco Tagbajumi 74).
Referee: Sean Grant (Wexford).
