Watts power play sinks Dundalk as Rovers land early blow in title race
Shamrock Rovers 2 Dundalk 1
Dylan Watts scores Shamrock Rovers' second goal against Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium. Photo: Seb Daly/Sportsfile
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Three weeks ago at this venue, Dundalk’s new goalkeeper Alessio Abibi was the President’s Cup hero, running to embrace Italian coaches Filippo Giovagnoli and Giuseppe Rossi after a penalty shootout win while experienced League of Ireland heads kept their cool in comparison.
They knew the important stuff was coming down the tracks and the reality for Dundalk supremo Giovagnoli is that his faith in Abibi is already looking questionable.
He gifted Finn Harps an opener last week and was the weakest link at crucial intervals here as Shamrock Rovers claimed full points without looking anything like the dominant side that strolled to league success last term.
What they do have is the calm assurance of Alan Mannus who made important saves in a second-half spell where Dundalk had the chances to cancel out the Hoops’ half-time advantage.
Italian-Albanian Abibi might have done better for Danny Mandroiu’s first-half opener but there were no doubts about his role in the second goal as he let a Dylan Watts shot slip through his hands to kill Dundalk momentum just when it appeared they had the natives on the ropes.
Patrick Hoban’s late consolation left the away side wondering what might have been with one point from their opening three games already pouring on the pressure.
Rovers may still face internal scrutiny for sloppy patches, but if this turns out to be a fixture that has implications for the title race, the bottom line will age well.
The corresponding fixture last term was one of the best games in the recent history of the league with the Jordan Flores strike, a Jack Byrne masterclass and a five-goal thriller that swung the way of the Rovers appearing to represent the changing of the guard.
A closed-doors game was never going to match that fixture in terms of intensity, but it wasn’t just crowds that were missing as both sides struggled to find rhythm in a staccato opening, and the mood was punctured by a horrible looking injury to Dundalk’s Brian Gartland who will be waiting anxiously for news of a scan after appearing to do something to his knee while turning.
For all of their riches, the suspension of Faroese international Sonni Nattestad for a red card in the President’s Cup meeting here three weeks ago meant Dundalk had no centre-half on the bench so midfielder Greg Sloggett was introduced on the right of a back three. Both sides were trying a version of a 3-4-3 but it was Rovers who looked more comfortable.
Dundalk’s team manager Shane Keegan had suggested during the week that the club’s management would lean towards the tried and trusted but 17-year-old Ryan O’Kane was selected as a right-sided attacker.
Giovagnoli evidently has faith in the teenager but it was a serious ask to stick him into the fray and unsurprisingly he was replaced at the break.
The guests had already reverted to a back four at that stage, with the Sloggett experiment not working and Rovers ahead.
Their goal was a product of slack play from the guests with a careless Chris Shields foul on Graham Burke punished by a quick free that caught Dundalk napping, with Mandroiu poised to meet an Aaron Greene lay-off with an impeccably struck right-footer from 25 yards that left the unprepared Abibi rooted to the spot.
It was merited on the balance of play, yet Dundalk did actually look threatening when they broke with Liam Scales preventing Hoban from opening the scoring after Michael Duffy got away from his old colleague Sean Hoare to send in a cross.
Rovers were initially in the ascendency in the centre of the park with the impressive Chris McCann and Ronan Finn marshalling proceedings but Shields did make a purposeful drive after the interval that allowed O’Kane’s Norwegian replacement Ole Erik Midtskogen to get a shot away on his Irish debut.
Duffy also had an effort denied by Alan Mannus in a sparky spell where Rovers had a valid penalty appeal waved away.
With Shields, Sloggett and the sprightly Sam Stanton giving Dundalk fresh impetus in the centre of the park, Stephen Bradley took corrective action by withdrawing Burke and sending in Dylan Watts to ask more questions of the Dundalk players that were pushing on.
Initially, it didn’t move the dial but when Mannus kept out another Duffy effort, the next phase of play allowed Watts to drop into the pocket and expose Abibi from distance.
Hoban’s late header halved the deficit but, from Dundalk’s perspective, the damage was already done.
Shamrock Rovers – Mannus, Grace, Hoare, Scales; Gannon (O’Neill 73), McCann, Finn, Kavanagh; Burke (Watts 63), Mandroiu; Greene
Dundalk – Abibi, Gartland (Sloggett 6; Junior 72), Boyle, Cleary; Dummigan, Shields, Stanton, Jurkovskis (Leahy 82); O’Kane (Midtskogen 45), Hoban, Duffy
Ref – P McLaughlin
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