Advantage Dundalk after two Richie Towell penalties

Shamrock Rovers 1 (Zayed 84), Dundalk 2 (Towell pen 10, pen 33)

It had been nearly three years since these two last met in this competition so it's hard to imagine that avenging the 2-0 defeat they suffered in the 2011 final was high on Dundalk's agenda as they travelled back to Tallaght for the first leg of this Setanta Cup semi-final.

Their fans must have enjoyed the victory that little bit more, though, while their hosts must have been relieved at the final whistle that they won’t need more than a single goal in Oriel Park to play themselves back into this tie.

Rovers, the holders, have three weeks to plot the remainder of their comeback after Eamon Zayed’s late close-range strike finally gave the home support something to cheer about last night.

Having done so well on the consolation cup circuit last year, however, they'd all surely settle this time for frying bigger fish in the form of a title challenge that has started promisingly enough.

Were tame
Here, they were tame and generally toothless with the fairly clinical finish Zayed applied to a low angled ball from Gary McCabe perhaps the locals' second shot on target of the night.

Stephen Kenny’s side had needed two penalties to lead at the end of a first half they had clearly edged but even after losing the initiative in the second period, it was they who continued to produce most of the game’s better scoring chances

If the visitors were struggling after a game in Sligo on Saturday that went all the way to the wire then they hid it well.

Their two spot kicks, both well taken by Richie Towell after fouls on John Mountney by Craig Hyland and Conor Kenna were the source of their advantage but their generally strong showing was the product of a lot of hard work and, in particular, the willingness of attacking players to press opponents far up the pitch.

Rovers were never really allowed to settle on the ball and the supply of possession surrendered due to hurried attempts to move it forward was fairly constant. Towell, almost inevitably, was a major influence but the penalties aside the two defences generally coped well with their tasks and so neither goalkeeper had much to do for long stretches at a time.

Making amends
Having conceded the first penalty after 10 minutes, Hyland went some way towards making amends a little further than that into the second half when he did well to smother an attempted shot by David McMillan after the striker had outsprinted Robert Cornwall to get onto a curling Towell pass.

Still Pat Hoban should probably have put the whole tie beyond doubt a little later but instead missed the target.

By that stage, the home side had gained the upper hand although the territorial shift was probably the result in part of Dundalk opting to dig in and defend a little deeper.

Certainly Peter Cherrie saw little enough real action as Rovers pushed and prodded around his area in search of an opening although he did have to gather fairly smartly once or twice, which he did.

Had he kept the clean sheet, another Setanta final would have looked a tall order for Trevor Croly's men; as it is they may fancy their chances although they'll presumably have to improve on their performance here.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Hyland; Madden, Cornwall, Kenna, Byrne; Bayly, Robinson (Brennan, 83 mins); Kelly (Finn, half-time), O'Connor, Sheppard (McCabe, 58 mins); Zayed.
DUNDALK: Cherrie; Gannon, Gartland, Boyle, Massey; Shields, O'Donnell (Higgins, 52 mins); Mountney (Meehan, 80 mins), Towell, Byrne; McMillan (Hoban, 67 mins).
Referee: P Tuite