Darren Mansaram, Liam Burns and Chris Turner, with a little help from Harpal Singh, returned to haunt Sligo Rovers as Dundalk picked up their first away points of the season with a 3-1 win at the Showgrounds on Saturday night. Mansaram’s first-half opener was added to after the break by Burns’ header and Turner’s cool finish, although the visitors had to survive a late scare as Rafael Cretaro pulled one back before Owen Morrison drove a late penalty over the bar.

Early storm
After already losing at Galway United and Saint Patrick’s Athletic this season, Dundalk looked bound for another fruitless away trip early on as Chris Bennion was called into action twice, his second save a magnificent stop to somehow deny Cretaro. The Lilywhites settled down soon after, however, and went close through a thunderous effort from Turner who cracked the crossbar from 30-yards, before Shaun Kelly’s introduction extinguished the threat of Morrison which had been so evident in the opening exchanges.

Three and easy
Dundalk’s attacks were rare with Sligo doing most of the pressing, however, the home side were left stunned seven minutes before the interval when an attempted clearance hit Mansaram and rebounded into the net. That saw the hosts’ confidence collapse and, after Singh somehow missed from six-yards, Dundalk doubled their lead when the left-winger turned provider from a free for Burns to head home. Turner then made it 3-0 when he raced on to a Mansaram through ball and calmly side-footed past ‘keeper Richard Brush, before Cretaro almost immediately grabbed what proved to be a consolation.

Mackle bow
Following defeat at Richmond Park last weekend, Sean Connor, who began his four-match touchline ban which left Joe Miller in charge for the evening, decided upon making two changes to the starting XI as Simon Kelly replaced Shaun Kelly at right-back and Tiarnán Mulvenna came in up front for the injured Declan O’Brien for his first start of the year. Meanwhile, Dundalk’s newest signing, 21-year-old Sean Mackle, who was most recently with Heart of Midlothian in Scotland, took his place on the bench and was later introduced to make his debut just days after signing.

Bennion brilliant
Entering the game, Dundalk had not won away from home in the Premier Division since March 2002 and that was a record which seemed certain to stay intact as Sligo, obviously intent on securing their first win of the season, started brightly. Romuald Boco, who recently returned from international duty with Benin, was the first to threaten when he latched on to a Morrison free, cutting in from the right and forcing Bennion into a smart save as the Scottish ‘keeper pushed the ball behind. Bennion then produced an even better save shortly after as he brilliantly denied Cretaro’s half-volley with a one-handed intervention.

Morrison oppressed
Struggling to get out of their own half, Turner offered the visitors some respite just past the quarter-hour and almost fired them into a shock lead when he raided forward and hit a 30-yard thunderbolt which smashed the Sligo bar. Dundalk’s plans then appeared to suffer a blow when captain Thomas Heary was withdrawn through injury just past the midway point of the first half, with Simon Kelly joining Burns in central defence and substitute Shaun Kelly going in at right-back. However, it was a move which proved a blessing in disguise as Morrison, who had endless joy down the left in the opening exchanges, lost his way thereafter.

Deadlock breaker
That laid the platform for Dundalk to come more into the game as they began to settle well and, after Brush saved Mulvenna’s half-volley, the Lilywhites took an unlikely lead into the break when Mansaram found the net. George O’Callaghan floated a delivery into the area but the home ‘keeper dropped the ball, leading to a goalmouth scramble, before an attempted clearance hit Mansaram and rolled back into the net. It was perhaps the little bit of luck that Dundalk had been void of in their three defeats to date and it was a goal that Sligo never recovered from as they totally lost their way, although, moments into the second half, Steve Feeney could have done better with a close-range header following a cross from Cretaro.

Burns doubler
In stark contrast to the first half, Dundalk completely dominated after the interval and they should have made it 2-0 just before the hour mark when Mansaram beat the Sligo defence and crossed from the by-line for Singh, who incredibly missed an open goal from six-yards as his diving header went wide of the target. The 27-year-old winger made up for that five minutes later, however, as he took over set-piece responsibilities from O’Callaghan and swept an inviting free from the right-back area into the box, with Burns rising highest to power the ball beyond Brush.

Three for Turner
Belfast-born winger Mackle was then introduced to make his Dundalk debut, and with less than a quarter-of-an-hour remaining, the visitors looked to have wrapped up the three points when Turner found his third goal of the season. The midfielder, who scored two penalties in the club’s only other win this season, against Drogheda United a fortnight ago, ran on to Mansaram’s pass and coolly slid the ball beyond the lone and advancing Brush. Within 60 seconds, though, Dundalk’s lead was back to two as Cretaro finally fired in from close-range after getting the ball stuck under feet following a cross from Richie Ryan.

Sitting sixth
Sligo continued to press forward in search of another and they were rewarded for their efforts when the busy Cretaro was pushed over in the box by Shaun Kelly. It was the first penalty a Dundalk side have conceded since Sporting Fingal visited Oriel Park last May. However, this time it was not converted as Morrison stood up and skied his effort over the bar to the relief of the travelling contingent, who could breathe easy for the four minutes of added time as the Lilywhites leapfrogged next week's opponents Shamrock Rovers and Bray Wanderers to move into sixth in the table.

SLIGO ROVERS FC: Richard Brush; Romuald Boco, Gavin Peers, Alan Keane (Eoin Torpey 82), Shaun Holmes; Owen Morrison, Conor O'Grady, Richie Ryan, Sean Doherty (Mauro Almeida 61); Rafael Cretaro, Steve Feeney (Paul McTiernan 68).
Unused Subs: Ciarán Kelly (GK), Jason Noctor.

DUNDALK FC: Chris Bennion; Simon Kelly, Liam Burns, Thomas Heary (Shaun Kelly 24), Dave Rogers; Chris Turner, Michael Daly, Harpal Singh, George O'Callaghan; Darren Mansaram, Tiarnán Mulvenna (Sean Mackle 68).
Unused Subs: Ryan Coulter (GK), Mark Griffin, Dwight Barnett.

Referee: Neil Doyle (Dublin).
Attendance: Approx. 1,800.