DUNDALK and Cork City continue to set the pace at the top of the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division, with both winning their respective games in the latest round of fixtures at the weekend.
Leaders Dundalk maintained their six point gap over the Leesiders with a hard fought 1-0 win at Bray Wanderers.
It turned out to be a memorable first appearance in a Lilywhites jersey for new signing Ciaran Kilduff, who scored on his debut with 16 minutes remaining, after coming on as a substitute.
Kilduff broke the deadlock with a fine downward header from a Daryl Horgan cross, a goal that continues a remarkable record for the striker who has now scored on his competitive debut for four different clubs - UCD (2009), Cork City (2013) and both St Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk in 2015.
The last time Dundalk failed to score in a domestic game was against Shamrock Rovers in October last year as they closed in on the title, and for a long time it looked like the goalscoring run would end at the Carlisle Grounds.
Stephen Kenny’s side dominated the game for long spells but were kept at bay by a stubborn Bray defence that featured former Lilywhites goalkeeper Peter Cherrie between the posts, until Kilduff delivered his breakthrough goal.
While Dundalk struggled, Cork City had little difficulty in recording an emphatic 4-0 win over Bohemians at Turner’s Cross.
They got off to a perfect start, when Mark O'Sullivan opened the scoring with a well-taken goal, back heeling a low driven right-wing cross from Steven Beattie past Dean Delany in the Bohs goal from six yards.
On 27 minutes O'Sullivan doubled his and City’s tally with a second goal, this time sending a powerful low drive into the bottom left corner of the net after being set up by Liam Miller.
With 15 minutes remaining, City’s third goal arrived from the penalty spot, with Colin Healy making a fine job of a penalty that was awarded after Steven Beattie was brought down in the box, and substitute Danny Morrissey wrapped up a good night for the home side five minutes from time, when he fired home from close range after good set-up play from Beattie and Gaynor.
St Patrick's Athletic remain in third place on goal difference ahead of Shamrock Rovers after they recorded their seventh straight win in defeating Galway United 3-1 at Richmond Park.
Chris Forrester opened the scoring for Saints, after being set up for an easy tap-in by Conan Byrne, but within minutes Galway were level, with Jake Keegan taking advantage of slack defending to send a low shot past Brendan Clarke.
However, the turning point of the game arrived 12 minutes into the second half, when Galway goalkeeper Conor Winn blasted a clearance into Conan Byrne, and promptly brought him down in the penalty area, an action that led to him being shown a red card.
Byrne took the resulting penalty himself and sent Saints into the lead, and in stoppage time Byrne sealed the points with a third goal.
Here's how the @SSEAirtricityLg table looks following the weekend's results #LOI pic.twitter.com/SqKdY0qtLj
— Irish Post Sport (@IrishPostSport) August 3, 2015
A remarkable run continued for Shamrock Rovers as they recorded their 13th successive win at Hunky Dory's Park, the latest victory over Drogheda United courtesy of in-form Brandon Miele who followed up last weekend's double with the only goal of the game.
A fine piece of opportunism was the difference between the sides, the goal arriving on 32 minutes when Miele intercepted a back pass from Drogheda’s Mark Hughes, beat a defender and finished with a shot into the bottom corner of the net.
The victory continues the run against Drogs that began in June 2009 with a 3-0 win in the FAI Cup, and sets up an intriguing encounter against third-placed St Pat’s at Inchicore on Friday evening.
At the other end of the table, both Derry City and Limerick picked up long awaited and welcome victories. Derry’s 3-0 win over Longford Town at the Brandywell was only their second in their last 14 competitive home games, and their first since April.
They had an early indication that the unwanted run was coming to an end when they took the lead in rather fortunate circumstances in the 10th minute, a shot taking a deflection off the side of Pat Sullivan and looping into the bottom right hand corner of the net.
Mark Timlin put the Candystripes two up in the 20th minute, with a fine long range effort, and the Derry native wrapped up a good night both for him and his side with his second goal of the evening 15 minutes from time, a cool finish from a Patrick McEleney through ball.
The win moves Derry three points clear of the relegation zone, with bottom of the table Limerick doing themselves and the Candystripes a favour by beating second bottom Sligo Rovers at the Markets Field.
It was a first win of the season for Martin Russell's side, who claimed the three points in a closely fought game.
A double from Vinny Faherty put Limerick two up inside 40 minutes, before on-loan striker Rob Lehane pulled one back for Sligo early into the second half with a close range tap in. Dean Clarke then restored the two goal lead with a deflected shot that looped over the head of Sligo keeper Richard Brush, and the home side held out despite a nervous ending when Gary Armstrong pulled a goal back for the visitors.
In the First Division, just five points separate the top four teams, after leaders Finn Harps and second placed Wexford Youths were both held to goalless draws.
Harps had to settle for a point at home to Athlone Town, after having a player sent off for the second week running, with defender Josh Mailey shown a straight red card on 32 minutes after a challenge on Town winger Derek Doyle.
Shelbourne extended their unbeaten run to six games against fellow-promotion hopefuls Wexford Youths at Tolka Park, the goalless draw meaning that Shels stay in third place, just four points off the top, and a point ahead of UCD in fourth place, who came from behind to win 3-1 at Cabinteely, courtesy of goals from Robbie Benson, Jamie Doyle and Tomas Boyle.
In the other game, Stephen Kenny, Stephen Christopher and Ryan Goldsmith were on target for Cobh Ramblers in a 3-1 Munster derby win against Waterford United at the RSC, a win that lifts Cobh up to fifth place in the table.
Results:
Premier Division: Bray Wanderers 0 Dundalk 1, Cork City 4 Bohemians 0, Derry City 3 Longford Town 0, Drogheda United 0 Shamrock Rovers 1, Limerick 3 Sligo Rovers 2, St Patrick's Athletic 3 Galway United 1.
Division One: Cabinteely 1 UCD 3, Finn Harps 0 Athlone Town 0, Shelbourne 0 Wexford Youths 0, Waterford United 1 Cobh Ramblers 3.
