Their Premier Division crown may be slipping away from them, but Dundalk remain in contention for a place in the group stages of the Europa League as they beat Andorran side Inter Club d’Escaldes 1-0 in Andorra thanks to a goal from David McMillan. They will now face Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol this week with a place in the play-off round at stake.
Their likely successors Shamrock Rovers are out as they were beaten 2-0 in the Tallaght Stadium by AC Milan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Hakan Calhanoglu with the goals for Milan. The title race isn’t over yet though, as Bohemian FC cut the gap to five points thanks to their 1-0 win against Sligo Rovers in the Showgrounds. Andre Wright got the game’s only goal in the 80th minute.
Shelbourne and Finn Harps drew 1-1 in Tolka Park where Ciaran Kilduff gave Shels the lead with Barry McNamee levelling for Harps, which was his first goal for the club. Shels finished with ten as Luke Byrne was sent off in the 75th minute. Meanwhile, St. Patrick’s Athletic’s woes in front of goal continued as they played out a goalless draw with Derry City in the Ryan McBride Brandywell. They have now gone over 540 minutes without scoring a goal.
It still remains very tight in the race for the First Division title with Bray Wanderers currently sitting top. They beat Longford Town 3-0 in Carlisle Grounds, Sean McEvoy with two of their goals while Gary Shaw got the other. Below them, Drogheda United are second as they beat in-form UCD 3-1 in the UCD Bowl, Mark Doyle and Stephen Meaney with their goals, of which Doyle scored two. Colm Whelan scored for UCD who finished with ten men as Yousef Mahdy was sent off in the 83rd minute.
Cabinteely got back to winning ways and are in third. They beat Shamrock Rovers II in Tallaght thanks to goals from Kevin Knight and Conor Keeley, with Knight scoring from the penalty spot. Below them, Galway United are quietly moving onto the fringes of the promotion race.
The appointment of John Caulfield proving to have been a very prudent one. They have been unbeaten since he took over his charges beat Wexford FC 1-0 in Eamonn Deacy Park, Enda Curran with the game’s only goal in the ninth minute. In the remaining game, it might have to be down to relevance on the final promotion placings in the season, but Athlone Town recorded their first win of the season.
They came from behind to beat Cobh Ramblers 2-1 in Athlone Town Stadium. Ben O’Riordan gave Cobh the lead but a goal first from Jack Reynolds and then a penalty from Ronan Manning gave Athlone the win.
