Dundalk hit five past old rivals Cork City in rout 

Dundalk and Cork City games used to mean so much at the top of the table but this latest meeting at the Oriel Park had a different meaning for the two former kingpins of Irish football

BACK AMONGST IT: Daryl Horgan of Dundalk celebrates after scoring his side's third goal. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Airtricity League Premier Division

Dundalk 5 Cork City 0

Dundalk and Cork City games used to be so much at the top of the table but this latest meeting at the Oriel Park had a different meaning for the two former kingpins of Irish football.

Both sides needed a victory badly for different reasons but in the end it was the Louth men who prevailed in record breaking fashion to ease the pressure on manager Stephen O’Donnell and keep their slim European hopes alive.

While the Lilywhites will face much tougher tests than this, the result keeps them in contention for a European place as they sit just three points behind Bohemians in fifth and four off Shelbourne in fourth - both of whom they still have to face in the closing five matches of the campaign.

For Cork City and Liam Buckley, this was as bad as they have been in some time. They needed to win this game in hand to keep the pressure on Sligo Rovers, who now sit nine points clear of them with just five games to go.

That means a relegation play-off is looking almost an inevitability for last season’s First Division winners but they’ll need to find form from somewhere if they’re to avoid an immediate return to the lower ranks.

Having flashed a shot wide on the quarter hour mark, Daryl Horgan then turned provider for the game’s opening goal on 18 minutes when his free kick from the left picked out Hayden Muller, who got up above Ally Gilchrist to head home just his second career goal.

Horgan then ended a run of 2,540 days since his last goal at Oriel Park, also against Cork, when he finished past Ollie Byrne from close range following a mistake by Conor Drinan on 27 minutes to make it 2-0.

Horgan was then involved in the third goal on 33 minutes when his header back across goal was turned into his own net by Cian Coleman, who had also scored an own goal in his side’s defeat to Shelbourne on Friday.

The visitors did go close to pulling one back in first half stoppage time when Ruairi Keating broke in from the right but his effort came back off the inside of the post before Nathan Shepperd denied Joe O’Brien Whitmarsh’s follow up header.

Malik Dijksteel also went close with an effort from 10 yards out within three minutes of the restart but Dundalk began to turn the screw once again after that.

Darren Brownlie and Patrick Hoban both headed over from separate Horgan deliveries before Sam Durrant was denied by Byrne on 54 minutes.

The ex-Sheffield Wednesday man was not to be denied his first career goal a minute later, however, as he collected Hoban’s pass wide on the left before cutting across the penalty box past three City defenders before firing right footed to the bottom right hand corner.

Dundalk went close to a fifth on 75 minutes when Martin slipped substitute Cameron Elliott in on the right but his effort came back off the butt of the post.

Keating almost got a consolation nine minutes later when his header was touched onto the crossbar by Shepperd but it was Dundalk who would have the final say as Martin headed home the fifth three minutes from time from Archie Davies’ cross to complete the rout.

Dundalk: Shepperd; Davies, Sloggett, Brownlie (Leahy 77), Muller; Yli-Kokko (Mullen 77), Doyle (Lewis 45), Horgan (O’Kane 62); Martin, Hoban (Elliott 62), Durrant.

Cork City: Byrne; Bolger, Coleman, Gilchrist, Drinan (Honohan 56); Kravchuk (Crowe 81), Worman (Walker HT); Bargary, O’Brien Whitmarsh (Murphy HT), Dijksteel (Kabia 56); Keating.

Referee: Paul McLaughlin (Monaghan).