The big winners last night were Rovers - both Sligo and Shamrock.
For the Bit O’Red, it was no less than they deserved as they piled the pressure on a Dundalk defence that lost Darragh Leahy to an early red card.
And for the Hoops, who had the night off last night after their FAI Cup win a day earlier, last night’s result edged them closer to a third consecutive Premier Division crown.
Dundalk were second prior to their visit to the Showgrounds, but they were leapfrogged by Derry City in the wake of this convincing defeat.
Whatever slim chance they had of catching the Hoops were all but extinguished when Leahy saw red for a 23rd minute foul on Frank Liivak.
He dragged down the Estonian 10 yards inside the visitors’ half, but was adjudged by referee John McLoughlin as the last man between Liivak and Nathan Shepperd’s goal.
Manager Stephen O’Donnell took off his only recognised striker John Martin and replaced him with Sam Bone - and that set the tone for the rest of the evening.
It wasn’t long before Leahy’s dismissal that Martin had the Lilywhites’ best chance of the night, with an angled shot that was saved by the outstretched boot of Luke McNicholas.
But once they went a man up, the only surprise was that it took Sligo until the 57th minute before they went a goal up.
Lewis Banks and Paddy Kirk were both denied by the impressive Shepperd before Andy Boyle turned the ball into his own net.
The goal came from a powerful run by Aidan Keena into the Dundalk area. His shot was parried by Shepperd, but Keena retrieved it, played it back to Will Fitzgerald and his low cross flew inside the near post off Boyle.
That sparked a Sligo onslaught. Max Mata dragged a 60th minute shot across the face of goal and wide, and then teed up Fitzgerald who was narrowly off-target.
John Mountney wasn’t far off with a strike from distance after a rare Dundalk attack.
But Sligo Rovers made sure of the points seven minutes from time when Keena burst into the area and selflessly teed up Liivak, who drilled the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
Keena almost earned another assist on 88 minutes with a similar cross, but Mata somehow failed to convert from two yards. His effort was saved on the line by a grateful Shepperd.
Dundalk remain seven points adrift of leaders Shamrock Rovers, but now have played two games more than the Hoops
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