Shamrock Rovers 3 Dundalk 1:IT MIGHT be far too early for comparisons between this slightly reshaped Shamrock Rovers side and the one that lifted the title last season but Michael O'Neill had more cause for satisfaction than just the improved opening night result as the supporters made their way out of Tallaght stadium last night.

The northerner will, of course, have been happy with taking the points from a game lost against the same opponents last year but of more significance perhaps was the way the champions brushed the challenge of their visitors aside after what had been a fairly even contest early on was changed utterly by the sending off of Dundalk goalkeeper Peter Cherrie barely a quarter of the way into the game.

Gary Twigg, for one, hit the ground running with two well -taken second-half goals and the Scot played well enough to bag another couple.

Behind and around him, though, the home side’s passing and movement as they swept forward time and again against a depleted Dundalk side was consistently impressive.

Just about everyone played his part in the often elegant assault but Gary O’Neill stood out, with the late pre-season arrival from Sporting Fingal looking like a man capable of igniting the whole attacking side of the Rovers game.

Ian Foster’s men did manage to take the lead briefly thanks to a spot of opportunism by Jason Byrne that earned his side a penalty. Overall, though, the need to replace a striker with a debutant goalkeeper left Simon Madden and co at a hopeless disadvantage and had it not been for the visiting captain’s goal line heroics in the second half the scoreline would have been a lot less respectable.

Cherrie, a key figure for the club last season, had no basis for complaint about his dismissal.

Under little pressure to do anything at all, he called on Shane Guthrie to leave a long Rovers’ ball forward for him to clear but then blasted it straight into Gary O’Neill from point blank range.

The striker recovered his bearings quickly and looked set to take off with the ball towards an unguarded goal from 25 yards out when Cherrie got enough of his shoulder in to O’Neill’s path to upend him and leave Alan Kelly with no option but to reach for his red card.

For whatever few neutrals that might have been at the game it was a pity because Dundalk had made a match of it up until then, enjoying as much possession as their opponents and comfortably holding their own in terms of territory.

They went close to opening the scoring once or twice too, most notably when Mark Quigley headed wildly over when unmarked a few metres out.

Instead, Byrne made the breakthrough after Quigley had been replaced, catching Dan Murray napping inside his own area to steal possession and then going down as the defender caught him with his knee in what looked like an abortive attempt to kick a ball that was no longer there.

From the spot, the former Shelbourne and Bohemians striker sent Alan Mannus the wrong way but within a minute Rovers were level, with O’Neill chesting the ball into the path of Gary McCabe, whose driven first-time shot had too much power for Paul Murphy, whose touch merely diverted it onto the inside of the post.

That marked the end of the first half and, as it turned out, Dundalk’s challenge for the entirety of the second period was dominated by the hosts who must wonder how they didn’t score at least a couple more.

Their second, though, only came courtesy of a Colin Hawkins howler, with the central defender heading a long ball into the area high and aimlessly into the air, only to see Twigg waiting to pounce as it descended.

He headed that one past the stranded Murphy and powered his second of the night past the former under-19 international at the near post after a neat switch in the direction of play by O’Neill.

Given the balance of play by then, an opening hat-trick for the league’s top last year seemed inevitable at that stage and Twigg certainly had has chances.

He did well enough with them too but somehow Madden kept popping up to deprive him, with the full back clearing off the line in dramatic fashion three times, with his best effort a remarkable stop late on when the Scot appeared to have placed his shot behind him.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Mannus; Sullivan, Murray, Oman, Stevens; McCabe, Finn, Turner (Rice, 78 mins), Dennehy (Kavanagh, 70 mins); O'Neill (Kelly, 83 mins), Twigg.

DUNDALK: Cherrie; Madden, Guthrie, Hawkins, Osborne (Hector, 51 mins); Kearns, Bennett, Bolger (Maher, 81 mins), Gaynor, Quigley (P Murphy, 24 mins), Byrne.

Referee: A Kelly(Cork).