Dundalk went into today's league encounter with Rovers slightly fearful of the outcome... at least the fans did! The team appeared to have no such qualms, hitting the ground at full tilt in what quickly turned into a full blooded affair.
Karl Sheppard opened the scoring to put Rovers ahead, giving Rovers more confidence than their performance up to that point merited. Dundalk continued to attack, however, as they had been doing, and their efforts paid off in time when Mark Quigley was taken down in the penalty area as he was about to shoot on target. Jason Byrne put away the resulting penalty to leave it all level again.
The heat increased, along with the tempo, in the second half with tough tackling from both sides. Pat Sullivan was lucky to escape seeing red for Rovers following a challenge on Ross Gaynor, while Rovers had what they deemed a legitimate penalty claim turned down (rightly so in this writer's mind). Fourth official Phil Cashera reported unacceptable behaviour by Michael O'Neill who was sent from the dugout as a result.
Referee Derek Tomney seemed reluctant to stand his ground with Rovers players in some ways throughout the game, but surprisingly it is the Rovers fans who leave this one most displeased with the officials!
The tone of this game was a little testy, to say the least, but if the Setanta Sports Cup Final matches the fire and pace of this one then both sets of fans are in for a cracker of May 14th in Tallaght!
