Dundalk fans were left reeling before kick-off on Friday night with the news that centre-half Mark Connolly had been recalled by Dundee United from his loan spell - but it wasn’t long before they were smiling again.
Stephen O’Donnell’s side were two-up against Finn Harps inside just six minutes at Oriel Park.
And while it didn’t turn into a rout, with the Lilywhites adding just one more to their tally, it was enough to put a little bit of pressure on Shamrock Rovers ahead of the table-toppers’ clash with Drogheda United this afternoon.
With the gap between the top-two reduced to six points - for now at least - the priority now for Dundalk is to continue their talks with the Scottish side over the future of Connolly.
The 30-year-old recently won the SSE Airtricity/SWI Player of the Month award for June and a club statement said: “We hope to clarify the situation as soon as possible.”
On the pitch, Dundalk had the points in the bag with some fans still making their way to their seats.
Things looked ominous for the visitors from the very start. Goalkeeper Mark McGinley was tested within two minutes, when he pushed Leahy’s angled drive around the near post.
When Ward’s corner fell to Bradley and his shot was blocked by Liam McGing, Leahy wouldn’t be denied a second time. He smashed the rebound past McGinley from 12 yards.
Dundalk doubled their lead on six minutes. Bradley could have taken on the shot himself as he broke into the area, but opted unselfishly to square the ball to Ward, who applied the easy finish.
Patrick Hoban was millimetres from scoring Dundalk’s third when his shot from the edge of the box skidded just wide of the right-hand post.
Harps’ defending had boss Ollie Horgan marching down the touchline - and past fourth official Rob Harvey - roaring instructions to his players.
Normally this would result in a manager being ordered back to his technical area, but maybe Harvey was being sympathetic to the Harps chief’s plight.
Horgan’s men didn’t give up and while they were still vulnerable anytime Dundalk attacked, they created some chances of their own.
Robert Jones’ flick header from Ethan Boyle’s long throw landed on the roof of the Dundalk net.
It took an outstanding defensive tackle from Lewis Macari to deny Jones on 23 minutes as he looked set to finish after Peter Cherrie parried Ryan Rainey’s drive.
And Filip Mihaljevic beat Cherrie to a through-ball but was pushed wide and couldn’t angle his cross to one of two Harps players waiting in the centre.
Moments after that chance went abegging, Dundalk settled any nerves with a brilliant third goal.
With nine minutes remaining in the half, Bradley cut inside from the right and onto his left foot, and curled the ball high inside the far post from 25 yards.
There were chances at both ends after the break. Ward came closest to adding to the scoreline when his curler from wide left smacked off the right-hand post.
At the other end, Conor Tourish and Ethan Boyle tested Cherrie, while Patrick Hoban, Bradley and Leahy all missed the target for the hosts.
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