The Dundalk PA was raving about ‘future Ireland international’ Daryl Horgan and fans agreed

His stunning goal sealed the man-of-the-match award as Martin O'Neill watched on.

Martin O’Neill has been paying a lot of attention to Dundalk this year, writes Stephen Barry.

The Ireland manager visited the team’s changing room after beating BATE Borisov in August, telling them their performance was “absolutely phenomenal”.

Then, earlier this month O’Neill joked that “if they've got 10 minutes to spare I'd pick the whole lot of them – they've only got 15 games in the next 2 days.”

Regardless, O’Neill appears to be giving serious consideration to introducing some Dundalk players to his international squad once the domestic season concludes at the start of November.

Daryl Horgan’s name has been mentioned at the top of that list, and his second goal in Dundalk’s 2-1 win over title rivals Cork City convinced many that he deserves his place.

The Oriel Park announcer even went so far as to predict the future…

Some fans were calling on club bosses, including Gary Monk and even Arsene Wenger, to take a punt on Horgan.

The 2-1 win sees Dundalk restore their four-point lead at the top of the Airtricity League Premier Division.

Mark McNulty’s own goal – after a Horgan free struck the crossbar – and Horgan’s 36th-minute strike provided enough of a cushion for the hosts after Mark O’Sullivan halved the deficit with 34 minutes to go.

Also tonight, Finn Harps have taken another step towards securing their top tier status for next season.

Sean Houston grabbed an injury-time equaliser for Harps as they claimed a 1-1 draw against St Pat's in Ballybofey.