ROBBIE BENSON RETURNED to Oriel Park to haunt his former side, helping St Patrick’s Athletic secure a 1-1 draw in Dundalk.
Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny was among the few people in the ground as domestic football restarted, watching his former club miss the chance to pull level with leaders Shamrock Rovers in the table.
The Tallaght side can now extend their early advantage over the reigning champions when they host Finn Harps tomorrow. The point edges Saints within two of third-place Bohemians, but they can pull in behind Dundalk with a win over Cork City this Sunday.
Dundalk capitalised on a defensive error to open the scoring after 23 minutes at Oriel Park. Stefan Colovic was dangerous all night and his decisive ball teed up Pat Hoban’s 100th goal in the white of Dundalk.
The lead lasted just over a minute, however, as Saints instantly replied thanks to a sharp Shane Griffin cross from the left that was expertly turned in by Benson.
Dundalk created the better chances earlier in the second half, particularly Greg Sloggett who couldn’t find the target from Michael Duffy’s fine ball in. But with Debutant Jordan Gibson outting in a shift, Saints proved stubborn and earned their point.
Monaghan putting it up to Dublin in the second half certainly not a walk over. 53 minutes in and all square
League final for the rebels but will have to step it up against the Dubs as I expect them to brush Monaghan aside. Think it’s time the Northern to drop the blanket defence…. shocking to watch.
It’s been adopted by all teams below Division 1, if they try to match the big guns man to man they’ll get blown out if the water! It’s no longer just a Northern style
Maybe open your eyes Owl when watching a match and form your own unique opinions instead of following the media’s approach on criticising the northern teams. Donegal for one don’t have a blanket defence for the sake of negativity. The have a system that works and forwards that can cause real damage like against Dublin last year. They scored 19 points today. What a terribly negative team….
Maybe you should watch that game again. … blanket defence on show all day. Cork put pressure on them to come out and play and NOT because it was Donegals game plan. My opinions are formed by actually watching the game and not just reading the result…
You sir, can suck my white hammer.
Good man Jimmy. … constructive yet to the point !
Well I was at the game today so i saw quite clearly how Donegal played. You clearly have little understanding of how their tactics work. You may as well stick to the blanket criticism of every ulster team playing purely negative football.
How their tactics work ????
Yes I can see it works a treat. Silly little comment.