Jim Magilton was full of praise for Dundalk after the Lilywhites dug deep to end Shamrock Rovers' 33-game unbeaten run at Oriel Park.
Goals from Patrick McEleney and Daniel Kelly, either side of a Joey O'Brien effort, settled an entertaining battle on Friday night.
Jim Magilton delighted with a hard-fought Dundalk win, while Stephen Bradley took heart from the performance as Shamrock Rovers lost their long unbeaten record #RTEsoccer https://t.co/VOpDzvih6w pic.twitter.com/fl4cZZ7h1O
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) May 21, 2021
Dundalk remain seventh, 13 points off Stephen Bradley's table-toppers, but it was very welcome morale-boost after a draining few weeks.
"We had to work extremely hard," sporting director Magilton, who is acting as interim boss as the club continues its search for a manager, told RTÉ Sport.
"They're a very good side. I'm a huge fan of Stephen and the way he sets up his team. We rode our luck, there's no question about that, but I thought we were good. Our work ethic was terrific. It was just an all-round really top-class performance from us.
"We got a few breaks. Overall I'm just delighted with the performance.
"We worked so hard, and when you work that hard and you have the quality we have in the team then in my opinion you are going to win more than you lose."
Fans gathered outside the ground before the game to call for chairman Bill Hulsizer to step down from his role in protest against the way the club has been run following a start which yielded just two wins from 11 matches prior to this game.
Magilton had no issue with the protest, and trained his focus instead on trying to build on a hard-earned win.
"As long as [the protests are] peaceful and nobody gets hurt, if they want to protest that's down to them. It's entirely their right to protest.
"It's put years on me hasn't it?" he laughed when reflecting on his interim management.
"I used to be a really handsome man, now I'm old and decrepit! We've got to present ourselves again. We've got to go out there and show the same appetite, the same hunger to get a result. We've got to go again."
📺 Match highlights@DundalkFC 2-1 @ShamrockRovers
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) May 21, 2021
Birthday boy Daniel Kelly was the hero for Jim Magilton's side on a night when fans protested before the game, as he popped up with a goal and an assist to end Shamrock Rovers' unbeaten run #RTEsoccer pic.twitter.com/RJBQEj0VLx
A disappointed Bradley meanwhile was left to rue some bad luck and missed chances.
"It just wasn't to be but I thought the performance overall and the amount of chances we created was top class," he said.
"We were missing seven first-team players tonight. If we perform like that every week, nine times out of ten we win the game. We should have won tonight. We haven't. We just have to accept it and get ready for Sligo.
"The run was incredible. The players deserve tremendous credit. It had to come to an end at some point. It's tonight, we're disappointed but we start again on Monday."
