BURT THE MAN ABLE TO HURT THE LILYWHITES
LIAM BURT scored a screamer on a night when Shels moved seven points clear at the top.
The winger was maker and taker – scoring the first, creating the second – on a nervy night for the leaders who survived a late scare before recording their sixth win.
With results elsewhere going their way, that lead at the top stretched. Heady times at Tolka Park.
And yet for 45 minutes this was not your typical top versus bottom clash. Anything but.
While Shels were the better team, dominating possession after a nervy opening quarter, it was a grind, rather than a procession.
Credit Dundalk for that.
Despite a dreadful start to the season, where they have scored just twice, they came with a strategy.
And for 51 minutes it worked.
Then Burt collected a pass from his captain Mark Coyle just inside the Dundalk half.
And off he went. As many as four Dundalk players kept him company, yet none got close enough to put a tackle in.
And from the edge of the box, Burt’s shot flew past Ross Munro.
And with that the tone of the night changed.
Shels, suddenly, seemed more comfortable now they had a lead to defend.
Contrast that with the opening half when Dundalk produced a decent impression of Damien Duff’s Shels, defending with spirit and organisation.
A number of their players were having decent nights, Robbie Benson and Keon Oostenbrink especially.
Yet they had nothing to show for their decent opening quarter.
And that was when Shels upped their intensity, Damien Duff demanding extra work from his front three, while pushing his fullbacks higher up the pitch.
Dundalk, while impotent in attack, were impressive enough in every other department.
Their defence in particular was solid, their midfield energetic.
But without an attacking outlet, Shels knew they could press deep into the Dundalk half, comfortable in the knowledge they had the edge on pace at the back.
Then, with 17 minutes remaining, a second goal arrived.
Again Burt was involved.
This time he was the creator, skipping away from Louie Annesley along the left flank, before his low cross was deflected into the net by Dundalk’s Hayden Muller.
By now, there seemed little doubt how this would end up.
But a minute from the end Dundalk got one back, John Mountney supplying the cross, Benson the header. Now 2-1, Dundalk had hope. It didn’t last long. The final whistle went.