League of Ireland Premier Division Round–up:Shamrock Rovers moved to the top of the Premier Division courtesy of a Thomas Stewart double against nearest rivals St Patrick's Athletic at Tallaght Stadium.
There was drama to the end as Rovers had to hang on. Goalkeeper Alan Mannus saved a penalty in injury time from Ryan Guy after Billy Dennehy was sent off for handling the ball on the line.
Derek Doyle put Pat’s ahead five minutes into the second half but Stewart then struck twice to send Rovers to the summit.
The first half was end-to-end but neither side managed to find a breakthrough. Rovers started the second half well but the visitors took the lead after 50 minutes when Doyle shot low past Mannus into the bottom left corner.
Rovers fought back immediately and were level on 64 minutes when Stewart fired an incredible shot high into the top left of Rogers’ goal.
The Pat’s defence was put under more pressure and on 81 minutes Stewart smashed in his second of the night.
Paddy Madden scored twice in Bohemians 2-0 win over UCD at Belfield which moved the champions up to third in the table.
The 21-year-old converted one from the spot and another composed finishes to bring his tally to nine in the last five games.
The opener came in the 12th minute when Raff Cretaro went to ground under a clumsy tackle from midfielder Paul Corry. Referee Dave McKeon pointed to the spot and Madden coolly sent keeper Billy Brennan the wrong way.
Brennan was the busier of the two keepers and forced a save with his feet from Cretaro before Gareth McGlynn missed a sitter he won’t want to watch again.
Madden showed no such wastefulness as he sealed Bohemians win on 72 minutes. Played in by the hardworking Cretaro, Madden drew Brennan off his line before sweeping the ball past him with his right foot.
Dundalk were 2-1 winners over local rivals Drogheda United at Oriel Park despite the visitors taking an early lead.
John Flood put the Drogs ahead after just eight minutes when Eoghan Osbourne found his way to the byline before cutting back inside to set up Flood.
Dundalk equalised in the 22nd minute with a swift counter attack. Neal Fenn released Tiarnan Mulvenna down the right and his cross was met by the head of debutant Stephen McDonnell.
Mulvenna scored what turned out to be the winner three minutes before the break. Faz Kuduzovic put him through with a clever pass and Mulvenna's strike had enough power to beat Paul Murphy.
Drogheda almost got their equaliser in the 85th from a Michael Daly header but his goal effort was deemed offside.
Sporting Fingal and Sligo Rovers played out a 1-1 draw Morton Stadium.
Rovers opened the scoring through Eoin Doyle after 14 minutes when he was gifted the chance when Fingal defender Ger O’Brien headed straight to the feet of Doyle who drilled the ball home.
Despite their domination, Sligo conceded a poor equaliser through Conan Byrne from the edge of the box in the 33rd minute.
Fingal were denied a winner in the 81st minute when Alan Kirby hit the crossbar. Two minutes later the Sligo crossbar was rattled once more when Eamon Zayed got his head to a Kirby cross.
Galway United and Bray Wanderers also shared the spoils despite
Bray coming from behind to lead late on before Galway recovered through an Anto Flood equaliser.
Galway went ahead through Gary Curran in the 12th minute and Bray had to wait until immediately after the restart when Shane O’Neill converted an opportunistic equaliser.
A Robbie Doyle free kick edged Bray ahead on 78, but Galway summoned a
response as Flood connected with a sweet 83rd minute header into the top corner.
Tonight’s League of Ireland Premier Division Results
Dundalk 2-1 Drogheda United
Galway United 2-2 Bray Wanderers
Sporting Fingal 1-1 Sligo Rovers
UCD 0-2 Bohemians
Shamrock Rovers 1-1 St Patrick's Athletic
Premier Division Table
P W D L F A Pts
Shamrock Rovers 20 9 8 3 21 15 35
St. Patrick's 19 10 4 5 29 12 34
Bohemians 19 9 6 4 26 16 33
Dundalk 19 9 4 6 25 21 31
Sporting Fingal 19 7 9 3 24 17 30
UCD 19 7 5 7 22 9 26
Sligo Rovers 19 5 9 5 27 18 24
Galway United 19 5 7 8 21 27 22
Drogheda Utd 20 3 6 11 18 40 15
Bray Wanderers 18 1 4 13 12 40 7