Mark Quigley’s 93rd-minute penalty ended ten-man Sligo Rovers’ long run of clean-sheets and secured Dundalk an unlikely point after substitute Raffaele Cretaro had given the visitors an 88th-minute lead, the teams in the end having to settle for a share of the spoils following a very entertaining 1-1 draw at Oriel Park on Sunday evening. Quigley had had the best chance of the game, the 25-year-old dragging his shot wide of goal when one-on-one with Brendan Clarke in the first half, before Danny Ventre was sent off on 53 minutes. After Cretaro scored, Clarke brilliantly denied Daniel Kearns from close range, but Dundalk had the last say as Quigley was fouled by John Russell in the box and he remained calm to send the ‘keeper the wrong way and give Dundalk a deserved point.
One change
Dundalk manager Ian Foster made just one change to the team that drew with Derry City at The Brandywell before the break as Ross Gaynor returned from illness and replaced the injured Colin Hawkins. Gaynor slotted in at left-back, with Carl McHugh partnering Dean Bennett at the centre of defence, the young on-loan Reading defender recovering sufficiently from a calf strain picked up in Derry. Nathan Murphy, however, missed out as he continues to recover from an operation on his toe three days after that trip north. The first chance of the game came in the opening seconds as Russell picked up possession outside the box and drilled a shot narrowly wide of goal, though Peter Cherrie had it well covered.
Griffin chance
In a quiet opening in terms of noteworthy chances, the next didn’t arrive until after the quarter-hour mark as Stephen Maher played in Mark Griffin but, from a difficult angle under pressure, his shot was easy for Clarke. Shortly after, following pressure from Sligo, Dundalk attacked through Kearns, with Griffin firing narrowly wide of the top corner, before Quigley’s low free-kick came back off the wall. On 27 minutes, the impressive Carl McHugh was adjudged to have fouled Iarfhlaith Davoren 35-yards from goal, Joseph Ndo stepping up but seeing his free-kick well held by Cherrie. After more pressure from Sligo, Dundalk had another chance but Griffin just failed to connect with Greg Bolger’s free-kick.
Quigley in
On 38 minutes, Cherrie produced a stunning save to deny Davoren from 15-yards, pushing away a snap-shot from the ex-Galway United man. From that, Dundalk broke through Kearns but Simon Madden’s cross from the right was gathered by Clarke. Then came the best chance of the first half as Quigley did brilliantly on the right and broke into the box but, with just the Sligo No1 to beat, he dragged his shot wide. Before the break, Kearns showed good feet on the left and crossed to the back post where Conor Powell did well to head behind with Keith Ward preparing to pounce. Kearns and Dean Bennett then did well to stop a Sligo break after Gaynor’s corner had been cleared.
Kearns dangerous
On 48 minutes, Kearns attacked and easily got past Ventre, with a low ball into the six-yard box finding Griffin who somehow put his effort wide. Moments later, John Dillon put in a superb cross from the right which Davoren got on the end of ahead of Cherrie but the ball went wide as the linesman’s flag went up. On 53 minutes, the game took a turning point as Ventre went over following a McHugh challenge just inside the box, but referee Tom Connolly saw it as a dive and showed the right-back his second yellow of the day. It was the sixth red card that Connolly has produced in this fixture, having also taken charge of the last four meetings of the teams at Oriel. Jason Byrne made a welcome return to club action on the hour, just before McHugh headed a Gaynor corner over.
Late drama
On 70 minutes, Dundalk had the ball in the back of the net. Bolger rose to meet Gaynor’s in-swinging free-kick which forced Clarke into a good save before Byrne finished from close range, but the assistant’s flag meant it was ruled out. Three minutes later, Ndo won possession in the middle of the park and fed substitute Matthew Blinkhorn whose shot from distance was held low down by Dundalk’s No1. Eight minutes from time, substitute Johnny Breen looked to find Byrne but his pass was cut out, before Bennett did well at the other end to deny Cretaro a shot on goal. On 86 minutes, Cherrie had to be alert to beat away a long-range shot from Cretaro. Sligo then had calls for a penalty waved away, but the visitors went ahead seconds later as Cretaro shot home from 20-yards. Clarke then saved from Kearns in the 90th minute before Quigley converted deep in injury-time as Sligo’s nine-match run of clean-sheets came to an end.
DUNDALK FC: Peter Cherrie; Simon Madden ©, Dean Bennett, Carl McHugh, Ross Gaynor; Keith Ward (Johnny Breen 71), Greg Bolger, Stephen Maher, Daniel Kearns; Mark Quigley, Mark Griffin (Jason Byrne 61).
Goal: M Quigley (90+3 pen).
Booked: R Gaynor (37).
Unused Subs: Paul Murphy (GK), Matt Foley.
SLIGO ROVERS FC: Brendan Clarke, Danny Ventre, Gavin Peers, Derek Foran, Conor Powell (Aaron Greene 59), John Dillon (Matthew Blinkhorn 57), Richie Ryan ©, Joseph Ndo, Iarfhlaith Davoren (Raffaele Cretaro 74), John Russell, Eoin Doyle.
Goal: R Cretaro (88).
Booked: D Ventre (18, 53), A Greene (80), J Russell (90+3).
Sent-Off: D Ventre (53).
Unused Subs: Ciarán Kelly (GK), Alan Kirby.
Referee: Tom Connolly (Dublin).
Attendance: 1,200 (Official).
