Report: Dundalk FC 2-0 St Patrick's Athletic

Dundalk produced another outstanding performance at Oriel Park on Monday evening as first-half goals from Tyreke Wilson and Shane Tracey secured a deserved 2-0 victory over league leaders St Patrick’s Athletic.

Coming into the game on the back of Friday night’s dramatic win away to Shelbourne, Ciarán Kilduff’s side carried that momentum straight into another huge result, ending St Pat’s seven-match unbeaten run and moving to within three points of the top of the table.

Against the only side to have beaten them in the opening series of fixtures, Dundalk played with confidence, intensity and real attacking purpose, while also showing tremendous resilience late on to preserve the clean sheet after Daryl Horgan’s late red card.

St Pat’s threatened first when James Brown’s cross picked out Max Mata inside the area, but Enda Minogue came to Dundalk’s rescue with an excellent stop before Conor O’Keeffe blocked the follow-up from Jason McClelland.

That proved a huge moment, because Dundalk took the lead just three minutes later. Gbemi Arubi drove forward with intent and fed Tyreke Wilson, whose strike took a deflection off Darragh Nugent and looped beyond Joseph Anang to give the Lilywhites an early lead.

Buoyed by that breakthrough, Dundalk continued to play on the front foot and doubled their advantage on 21 minutes through Shane Tracey. After capitalising on a defensive slip, the midfielder released Horgan down the right and continued his run into the box. Horgan’s delivery was pushed away by Anang, but only as far as Tracey, who fired home emphatically for his first Premier Division goal just days after his 20th birthday.

St Patrick’s Athletic saw more of the ball after the restart and looked to reduce the deficit, with Ryan Edmondson passing up a decent opportunity early in the half when he dragged an effort wide from the edge of the area.

Dundalk were forced into further adjustments, including the loss of Conor O’Keeffe through injury, but remained organised as the visitors tried to build pressure. While St Pat’s had more territory for spells, they found it difficult to create clear openings against a compact Dundalk shape.

At the other end, Dundalk continued to carry a threat on the break and Arubi came close to adding a third in the closing stages, only to be denied by Anang after getting in behind.

The game took another turn when Daryl Horgan was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 80th minute, but St Pat’s were unable to make the extra man count in any meaningful way.

Chris Forrester and James Brown both had efforts blocked or deflected, while Enda Minogue made a late save from Jason McClelland as Dundalk saw out the remaining minutes to secure the win.

Dundalk: Minogue; T Wilson, O’Keeffe (Animasahun 55), Warren, Spaight (JR Wilson 45); Dervin, Burns (Buckley 45); Kenny (McDaid 72), Tracey (Groome 55), Horgan; Arubi

St Patrick’s Athletic: Anang; Redmond, Hoare (Nzingo 76), Turner; Brown, Nugent (Lennon 45), Baggley, Leavy (Forrester 76), McClelland; Keena (Palmer 16; Edmondson 44), Mata

Referee: Aaron O’Dowd